Red like the Storm
by silenceia
Summary: Hayato Gokudera never liked company. Until he meets Harriet Potter.
1. 001 - 006

Disclaimer: Anything you recognise, I don't own.

* * *

 **001** **\- First meeting  
**

Hayato is nine when he sees her for the first time. He's been living on the streets long enough to have learnt ruthlessness in order to survive, to know not to trust anyone. He knows that attack is the best defense. He has learnt that in most cases, it's better to attack first so he won't need to defend at all, because in his child-body, he can't win a fight. It is a lesson he learnt the hard way.

Another lesson he has learnt: Put yourself first. Others are deadweight.

Those are the most important things. There are others, but they don't carry as much weight.

Hayato has a plan: Survive. Get strong. Join a mafia family. Prove his worth. Be respected.

He also has a dream: To find a worthy man to follow, to be his right-hand man, to have family that won't use him, that respects him for who he is, that just _loves_ him.

But right now, survival takes priority. And survival means he needs food. Food like the two hot dogs that fat blond kid is holding. Hayato hasn't eaten in eighteen hours, his stomach hurts from hunger, and his eyes hungrily follow the food with his eyes. One hot dog is already crammed in the fat-ass kid's mouth, and Hayato hopes he chokes on it.

The pebble in his hand has the perfect weight. Hayato calculates the trajectory he will need, the wind's influence, and the air resistence. Then the pebble goes flying in a perfect arc, and lands just under the fat pig's foot just as he is about to set it down. The pig falls with a cry, the not-yet-eaten hotdog flies out of his hand. Hayato smirks in victory.

The horse-faced woman screeches and starts fussing over the fat pig. The pig's father - looks like a walrus, genetics are a funny thing - he swells with rage, and his eyes lock on a small figure that had been trailing behind them. Hayato doesn't know how he didn't notice that one, the red hair should have been a beacon. Though the waif is pretty small and almost disappears in oversized clothes. And the red hair is somewhat hidden by a cap.

Walrus stalks up to her and starts shouting in English. Hayato understands every word, he is fluent in five languages. It's useful in picking targets among tourists. Verona has a lot of those.

The girl shrinks into herself while she is shouted at, clutching heart the bread roll in her hand that looks like it's a hotdog without a sausage. She looks around for help, but none is forthcoming. Then her eyes meet his, and he's surprised at the startling green shade. Where his eyes are jade green, hers are the colour of spring leaves in the sun, pure and innocent.

Hayato also notices the complete lack of baby fat, the slightly gaunt cheeks. Malnourished for sure.

He also sees her realise the same thing about him.

Walrus continues shouting at her, apparently he holds her responsible for his fat pig of a son tripping. Said pig is now bawling and demanding they go home, and he hates it here, and this holiday is stupid, and why is the freak with them. Walrus growls, grabs the redhead's arm harshly, and drags her over. He steps right onto the remaining hotdog, making Hayato grit his teeth.

The family walks away, the girl dragged after them.

She looks back at him and throws him her bread roll. It makes Hayato even more pissed off.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **002 - Second meeting**

Hayato forgets about the encounter pretty fast.

He remembers her immediately when he finds her sleeping in an alley behind a restaurant five days later, shivering under a pile of newspapers.

A dog bellows in the distance, she wakes up almost immediately, jumping up and looking around in fear, indicating that she has had bad experiences with dogs previously. She bumps into a trash can which falls over, creating deafening noise.

" _Idiota_!" Hayato hisses to her as he runs. She gasps as she notices him. He hears her scramble after him as shouts come from whoever lives over the restaurant, wailing about fucking brats going through trash again like rats.

Hayato is a fast runner by necessity. She keeps up with him.

"S-s-sorry!" she gasps when they finally stop. He glares at her.

"Get lost," he growls out.

"P-please!" she pleads. Fucking pathetic. She'll get herself killed like that, and good riddance. "Don't leave!"

"Tch." He walks away. "Stay away from trashcans. They put rat poison in it sometimes."

Hayato doesn't need baggage.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **003 - Help (not) needed  
**

Surprisingly, she's still alive after a month. Hayato sees her sometimes, moving about the streets unnoticed by everyone else.

What innocence he saw in her eyes that first time is long gone, replaced by cold calculation brought on by the harshness that is street life. Like so many things, this makes him angry.

Fucking adults, destroying beautiful things. Like that girl's light. Like his mother's hands that created such beautiful music.

Hayato won't admit it even to himself, but he keeps an eye out for her. Hears the gossips among the other street rats. He knows the gang that calls itself the _Coltelli_ \- the knives, what a dumb name - are looking to capture her because she steals in their territory. They are never successful.

Instead they find Hayato. He's run into a dead end. He can hear them coming behind him, looking into the alleys he could be hiding in. They'll find him in a matter of seconds.

"Psst," hisses a voice. He looks around wildly.

There she sits, on the roof four meters above him. Has she come to mock him? She's going to watch him get beat up or worse and walk away.

She throws a rope down. "Hurry up!" she hisses.

He stares at her. She's _helping_ him?!

A shout at the far end of the alley spurs him into action. He scrambles up the rope. She helps pull him onto the roof with surprising strength for her little body, then she hastily pulls the rope up behind him. The _coltelli_ shout angrily below. Hayato can see them start to climb onto the taller members' shoulders to get up the wall.

The girl only pauses to grab the rope and stuff it into a ratty backpack, then she grabs his hand and runs.

Hayato understands now how she was never captured.

The gangs, street rats, and Hayato, they use the alleys and back streets. This girl, she uses the roofs. Like the wind she runs, dragging him after her. She jumps over the looming gaps between the houses like they're nothing. And she seems to know them like the back of her hand.

Soon, the _Coltelli_ are left far behind them.

Hayato rips his hand out of hers. "I didn't need help!" he snarls.

"Keep telling yourself that," she answers. "Well, I'm off."

Wait, what?

She's leaving?! Just like that? Hayato practically frothes at the mouth. What's her angle? Why did she help him? What does she fucking _want_?!

And where is she even going? The way off the rooftop is to the right! To the left, there are only housewalls much too tall... to... climb...

Hayato watches in disbelief as she runs at one wall and then _up_ five steps before flipping off to land on a windowsill. From there, she leaps across to a balcony and pulls herself up. Another seemingly impossible jump has her leaving his sight.

 _What the hell?_

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **004 - Hook, line, sinker**

" _Fellini's_ is hosting the Alcantara wedding reception," a voice says above Hayato.

She sits perched on a balcony's railing, perfectly balanced. Hayato has no idea how she got up there.

"What do you want, woman!" he barks at her.

He's heard about the Alcantara wedding, of course. The heir of the richest, most respected family in all of Verona, is getting married. To a woman by the name of Francesca Riccati, who comes from a family of bankers, almost as rich. The wedding is the most talked-about event of the year. Everyone wants to be invited.

 _Fellini's_ is the single most expensive _ristorante_ in the city. A glass of water costs there costs the same amount of money Hayato needs to survive for a month. They make the kind of food there that even Hayato's filthy rich former family would have considered high-class.

Hayato would rather die than admit he sometimes misses rich-people food.

So what's this bitch doing, taunting him like this?!

She tilts her head in a rather birdlike manner. "You wanna hit that?"

He glares at her. If looks could kill, she'd have gone splat on the street way below ages ago.

She shrugs. "Your loss."

"Wait, woman!"

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **005 - Unexpected encounter**

The reception of the Alcantara Wedding is an ostentatious abomination. Hayato hates every moment he spends there. Especially with _her_ clinging to his arm.

 _Melodia Angelini._ It's no more her name than _Aurelio Angelini_ is his.

They are just roles they play. With the stiff suit Hayato wears, and the fine silk dress _she_ has on, no one questions their presence. Who would expect two street rats to sneak into the single most expensive and high-class social event of the last ten years, anyway?

Hayato has had etiquette and manners drilled into him since he could barely talk. He's been shown off in rich-people events since he could walk. There never was a question about fitting in here.

As for _her_... she looks pretty and plays the shy girl exceptionally well, clinging to his arm like she does.

That's what she needed him for: His education and manners. Somehow, she had guessed that he came from money, that he knew how to behave in this kind of situation, unlike her. Now he's parading her around, casually snatching appetizers from trays, and eating the famous _Fellini_ food, and making conversation, while she lifts jewels and money from the rich women and men.

Hayato won't be worrying for money for months to come. He'd even be able to buy material to make dynamite for himself. Then he'd be able to take actual mafia jobs and make a name for himself. Putting up with _her_ is annoying, but the price would be well worth it.

She's an exceptionally good pickpocket. Much better than him, anyway. He never was good at going unnoticed.

But hell, he hates being in this crowd. He looks around disdainfully. And his eyes catch on a familiar shade of rose. He stiffens.

"What's wrong?" _she_ asks.

Hayato skillfully steers them around. "We're leaving. _Now_ ," he hisses.

At least she has the good sense not to ask questions and follows him as he casually directs them in the direction of the bathrooms. When nobody is looking, they disappear into a staff room instead, one with a small window that no adult could fit through, but which is just large enough for two thin street rats. _She_ gives him a boost up, and follows right after him.

"Hayato?" he hears Bianchi ask from the corridor, but by then he's already well on his escape.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **006 - Hayato and Harry**

They are on a train to Bologna two hours later, stowing away in a luggage compartment. Hayato has no idea why she's with him, and he doesn't feel like asking.

"So, Hayato?" she asks. He glares at her.

"What's it to you!" he snaps back. She shrugs.

"Nothing, I guess."

"Why're you even here!" he growls out.

"One, to figure out the haul," she answers.

Oh. Yeah. The haul. He forgot about that.

"And two, I wanna see something new. Also, some people want to kill me."

Hayato can't blame them. She's annoying.

"...I guess fair's fair, so you can call my Harry, if you want." She gives him a lopsided grin. Hayato can admit that it's prettier than the sweet smile she had on the whole time at the reception.

"The hell kind of name's that for a girl," he demands.

"I dunno!" she laughs. "I guess it's short for something, but no one ever told me."

"Tch. _Idiota_ ," he mutters.

She laughs again, not caring in the least about the name he called her. She's got to be the only one who's better off on the streets than with that Walrus family of hers. She's actually managed to put on some weight, her clothes fit, and while the purity and innocence is gone, the light is still there, sparkling mischievously.

"So why did we run?" _Harry_ asks him.

"None of your business," he growls out.

Just because she'd helped him once or twice doesn't mean they're friends. The moment they reach Bologna, he'll be glad be shot of her.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے


	2. 007 - 012

Disclaimer: Anything you recognise, I don't own.

* * *

 **007 - Bologna**

He ditches her the moment they reach Bologna. And it puts him in a horrible mood. Which puts him into an even worse mood that leaving her puts him into a horrible mood.

Hayato doesn't _need_ anybody.

The streets of Bologna aren't all that different than the streets of Verona. They're just unfamiliar. But Hayato is a fast learner. And this time, he won't just learn the streets, he'll learn the roofs, too. He knows how useful they are now.

Also, he can't just let _her_ have them.

Once he's familiar with streets and roofs, he'll use his haul to stock up on explosives. Then he'd work on getting in contact with the local Families. He didn't think he'd be allowed to join any of them, Bologna only had a few small _Famiglie_ , tight-knit and wary of letting newcomers into their fold. But they might have jobs for freelancers.

If it doesn't work out, Hayato would just try somewhere else.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **008 - Not a thief**

Four months later, Hayato proudly walks the streets, preening to himself, because his plan _worked_. No _Famiglia_ would take him in, and they weren't Families he wanted to join anyway, but they _did_ have smaller jobs he could do. _Paid_ jobs. They don't care about Hayato's youth, age doesn't matter in the mafia.

They were mostly sabotage jobs; a warehouse that needed destruction, a shop that was posing a threat to a Family's business, and one job where he had to lower an unsold property's price and discourage prospective buyers from buying it, without actual destruction involved. Hayato liked that last one - it offered a bit of a challenge to his mind.

But the job the Quattrini Famiglia wants done is a bit different.

"We need a thief on this," the boss' right-hand man says. "A good one. You get caught, we'll silence you before they can make you talk."

"Just those jewels, right?" Hayato asks roughly.

"Yes, and the papers," he's told. The man looks at him with all the disdain of someone who thinks he's _better_ than anyone else. "If you fail..."

"I won't," Hayato growls roughly.

Five minutes later, he stomps out of the meeting and out onto the streets. His fist hits a wall, splitting his knuckles open.

Dammit.

Hayato is no thief.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **009 - Neurophysics**

He leaves a message on the roof of the cathedral. He's seen flashes of red on it, so he's pretty sure she'll get it.

Indeed, she shows up to the meeting.

" _University of Bologna, Library, Noon, Hayato_ ," she reads out from behind him when she arrives. He growls out in annoyance as he turns to her. Damn her for sneaking up on him.

"You're late," he accuses.

She gives him an incredulous look. "Do you know how big this library is? You didn't say where I'd find you." Though judging from the amazed look on her face, she doesn't mind at all. Hayato can't blame her, it _is_ an impressive library, fitting for one of the best universities in the world, thanks to donations from numerous _Famiglie_. "So what's this about?" she asks.

"Oi, what're you kids doing here?" a voice demands. An old man comes striding up to them, frowning heavily. "This is an institution-"

Hayato glares at him. "Research on Yasser Roudi's work on Neurophysics," he growls out. Harry smiles at the man sweetly, and says in English, because she learnt Italian on the streets and her accent is atrocious,

"We're a bit tight on time, though, but thank you for your concern, it's good to see someone so cautious. Not enough people take education seriously enough."

The man does this odd mixture of preening and glaring to cover up his embarrassment, but then stomps away. Hayato glares after him.

"Neurophysics? What're those?" Harry asks.

Hayato glowers at her. "You a good thief?"

She blinks. "I guess?"

"I got a job for you."

She blinks again. "Job? I've never taken a job." She bites her lip nervously. "What's it about?"

"Jewels and papers," Hayato says. "Half the pay's yours."

It'd still leave plenty of money for him, and he wouldn't be dead.

"Who are we stealing for?" she asks.

And so, Hayato reluctantly tells her about the mafia.

It's not like he's breaking omertà. She's already part of the underworld. And Hayato doubts she'll be leaving it anytime soon.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **010** **\- Fate**

They've been sitting on a roof for hours, watching the target's mansion. Hayato snears in disgust. That mansion reminds him of where he came from, a cage of marble and poison where he was paraded around like a show dog.

"Let's just go!" he complains. " _Dios mio,_ how long are you going to stare at that thing, woman!"

Harry holds up her hand, for once not having that damn amused sparkle in her eyes. " _Un attimo,_ Hayato," she murmurs, her eyes sharp on... something. Then something slithers up onto the roof and up her arm. A small snake. Hayato blinks as Harry hisses to the animal, the sounds impossible to come out of human throat. The snake hisses back. Then it drops from Harry's arm and slithers away. Harry looks at Hayato. "He says there isn't much security in the back, and he told me where they're keeping the sparkly stones. We'll have to look for the papers ourselves."

Hayato stares at her with a dropped jaw. She looks back uncomfortably. "Look, let's just-"

He grabs her hands and grins. "U.M.A!" he exclaims.

Who would have thought! An UMA right there! Talking to him! Oh, the possibilities!

"Err, what?" she asks, leaning away.

"U.M.A!" he repeats. He whips out a notebook. "What else can you do? Can you tallk to other animals? What do you eat? Which planet are you from? Are there more of you? Can you read minds? Are you comfortable in this climate? What is your native language? And-"

She starts laughing. Her hands in his relax.

Success! He has achieved a peaceful atmosphere! He'd gain her trust much easier, _but wait_! "What's your gender?"

She laughs harder. "Girl," she gasps out in between giggles. "Of all the things to ask!" she almost howls.

"What else can you do?" he asks.

She grins. "We do have a job to do, you know?"

"Yes!" Hayato almost jumps up, but she still has a hold of his hands and drags him down.

"What's a UMA anyway?" she asks curiously as she leads him from the roof in a way that won't let them be seen. Hayato almost cries tears of joy. She's showing interest! Oh, and she's a young UMA, he'll get to see her grow up and develop and stuff!

"An Unidentified Mysterious Animal!" he declares enthusiastically. "I knew they existed! I always believed!"

"I'm human, though," she says. "I mean, some weird stuff did happen around me, and my relatives did call me freak a lot, but-"

"No no no!" Hayato grabs her hands again and smiles at her earnestly. "Your relatives were obviously uneducated barbarians! Maybe they weren't even your relatives!"

"They found me on their doorstep one day..." she says slowly.

"See! See!" Hayato nods earnestly.

"But they said I was the daughter of Aunt Petunia's sister." Harry - and how great is that, he knows an UMA's name! - continues, frowning. "My parents died in a car accident."

"That's just what they want you to think!" Hayato waves it off. "It must be a conspiracy!"

She nods slowly. "They did lie a lot. And they never liked when the neighbours saw me. They said it was because I was an embarrassment and a worthless freak."

Hayato gasps and grabs her cheeks. "No! They lied! You're special!" he says earnestly. "You're really really special!"

"You really think that?" she whispers, and a part of him recognises that slightly broken tone.

"Yes!" he says.

"I thought you didn't like me," she says with wide astonished eyes.

"Psh! That was _then_!" Hayato grins at her. "Everything those people have told you is a lie, so just forget what they said! It was a conspiracy anyway!"

Harry nods slowly. "It makes sense..." she murmurs with wide eyes. "Uncle Vernon tried to sell me, you know?"

Hayato once gasps again. "To who!" he demands. "I'm gonna blow them up! And that Vernon too!"

"I dunno," she mumbles. "But they looked really mean, and I saw them give Vernon money, and I heard them talking, and I just ran." Her eyes light up. "And then I met you!"

Fate. It must have been fate.

Hayato is so so happy. How could he not see it before? She'd been helping him all the time! Even risking getting caught by gang members that one time, just to save him! And he-

He throws himself to the ground and bows his head before her. " _Mi dispiace_! I've been blind and arrogant towards you! Please forgive me, Mylady!"

"Err... it's fine?" she asks. He gasps when she kneels down before him - she's lowering herself before _him_! "We can just be friends now!" She smiles at him hopefully and reaches her hand out. "Hi, I'm Harry, eight years old, thief and burglar and UMA! It's nice to meet you!"

Hayato nearly cries in happiness as he grasps her hand. "I'm Hayato Gokudera, I'm an expert on explosives and I'm going to be in the Mafia one day!"

"Then I'll be as well," Harry declares. "Since we're friends now."

The bell of a church ringing interrupts their conversation, and they both grow serious.

"Okay, let's do this job."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **011 - Happy**

Harry is happy. Confused, but happy. Hayato is weird, but he's nice, and fun, and smart, and he's her _friend_.

All those things about herself that she always felt bad for, that she got called names for - Hayato loves them. Harry finds that incredible.

They do the job, and then they move Harry's stuff into the abandoned apartment Hayato stays in. Her things fit into one backpack. The stuff she actually _needs_ fits into her trouser pocket.

He asks her a million and one question, and he doesn't get angry when she doesn't know the answers. What she can answer, he writes down. And then he comes up with experiments, like, _Can she move stuff with her mind? Can she turn people's hair blue? Can she predict the future? How high can she jump?_

Sometimes the experiments succeed, sometimes they fail. Hayato never gets discouraged. Indeed, he seems to get more enthusiastic with every failure, comes up with hundreds of theories. Harry hardly understands a quarter of the things he talks about, but she listens anyway.

Hayato makes her happy.

Eventually, they figure out that Harry's UMA abilities come out when she's experiencing strong emotions. There is one time where they are chased by a pack of vicious guard dogs and end up in a dead end. One dog biest Hayato, and Harry just. Snaps. It's like a shockwave, except only the dogs are affected while Hayato is fine. And then there is one time that Hayato makes laugh, and all the flowers around them start to bloom.

But there are some abilities she can use at will. Talking to snakes is one of them. Another is that she can jump higher and further than should be possible. Hayato signs her up for free-running races occasionally so she can practice. A third ability is one that Harry knew about before, her ability to not get noticed - that one she can thank the Dursleys for.

And finally - Harry is a fast healer. Bruises are gone within days. A broken bone heals within two to three weeks. And as far as she knows, she has never gotten sick in her life.

That last ability, though, is never experimented with and discovered by accident. Hayato documents everything, but he refuses to even consider figuring out limits to that ability because it would mean hurting her.

Harry gets to know Hayato as well. Maybe not as thoroughly as he does her, but she isn't one to keep notebooks about a person.

She figures out that Hayato is smart. _Really_ smart. He speaks five languages. His memory is nigh eidetic. The numbers he can calculate in his brain, she even has trouble writing on paper. He knows Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Informatics, History, _everything_. It blows her mind.

When she decides she wants to give him something back for all the kindness he showers upon her, she sneaks them both into one of the auditoriums of the University of Bologna. For hours, they sit in a tiny niche, and listen to the lecture. Harry doesn't understand a word of it, but Hayato is _happy_. He sits there with a look of wonder in his face, completely unguarded.

Harry thinks her life could go on like this forever. She wouldn't mind being homeless and poor for the rest of her life, if only Hayato is there with her.

She can't imagine life becoming more perfect.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **012 - Only the best**

Harry and Hayato are an unstoppable team. Harry, with her abilities, is a _really_ good thief and burglar. Hayato, with his brains and explosives, is the best at sabotage. Together, they can pretty much tackle any job, though Harry draws the line at assassination. She's aware that Hayato doesn't share her reservations, but so far, he hasn't mentioned taking jobs as a hitman. They might have to someday, if they want him to get noticed by the Mafia as someone strong and capable, because that's just how the Mafia works.

Harry isn't naive, she knows the underworld is cruel, and that in the Mafia, it's highly unlikely that she'll get by without eventually killing someone. But that doesn't mean that she'll set out to kill for money. She's a thief, and that's enough for her. _La gazza ladra,_ Hayato calls her in front of clients. The Thieving Magpie.

Smoking Bomb Hayato, she calls him.

One day, their names are going to be known throughout the Mafia world. Right now, they're just kids with big dreams.

They stay in Bologna over the winter, doing small jobs for the local families and figuring out their partnership, because neither are used to being part of a team. Both tend to try to do the whole job on their own. Eventually, they figure out that Hayato should be the one who makes the plans, blows shit up, and handles combat; and Harry is good at being the one to steal things, sneak around getting information, and handle escape routes.

They've got a good thing going in Bologna, the Quattrini have even hinted at letting them join the Family. However, Harry and Hayato agree that they don't like the Quattrini much, and both of them refuse to let each other join a Family that they consider _unworthy_. On his own, Hayato probably would have settled for any _Famiglia_ , and Harry would have continued to haunt the rooftops until someone got lucky, caught and killed her. But as partners, it's a whole different story.

Only the best for the respective other.

Both of them agree that the big chances won't be found in a city like Bologna that doesn't house any influential _Famiglie_. There are no big jobs that could get them attention and recognition, no chances at rising through the ranks of a Family since the _Famiglie_ here are small and only engage in petty squabbles. There's no challenge in Bologna.

So they leave. Hayato is sad to leave the university behind. Harry is, too, she'll miss seeing that amazed look on Hayato's face while he listened to the lectures.

But they can be happy anywhere, as long as they're together.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے


	3. 013 - 017

Disclaimer: Anything you recognise, I don't own.

 **013 - A new city**

They make their way to Venice next, but only stay a few days to enjoy the sights and marvel over the architecture. One, because Venice is firmly Carcassa Famiglia territory, and Carcassa is considered shady even for a Mafia Famiglia; they don't even have access to Mafia Land. They're also not part of the grand Vongola Alliance, and if Harry and Hayato want to make their names in this world, the Alliance will have the most opportunities.

Two, Venice is too beautiful and rich in history for Hayato to ever consider doing a job here that involves blowing parts of the city up.

So the two take a week's vacation and then make their way to Naples, home of the CEDEF, the Outside Advisor branch of the Vongola Famiglia, the most powerful Family in the entire world, and one of the Families Hayato and Harry have their eyes on. However, the Vongola Headquarters itself are located on Sicily, and that's not somewhere they want to go just that - Sicily is a hotpot of about a dozen Families in a constant power struggle for Vongola's favour. That kind of politics is not something kids like them can handle. Besides, there'll be more jobs in a large city like Naples. And CEDEF handles Vongola's intelligence - if Hayato and Harry become noteworthy enough, Vongola will hear about them through CEDEF.

Other possible destinations had been Milan, where the Tomaso had their base, Ravenna, city of the Chiavarone, and Florence. They'd been scrapped in favour of Naples, though. Milan, because the Tomaso had been going into weapons production and that just wasn't what suited Harry and Hayato; Ravenna because Chiavarone had lost much power and influence and were something of a laughing stock now; and Florence because it housed the homebase of the Varia, the Vongola's independent assassination squad. Grandted, they didn't _only_ do assassinations, so they might have opportunities for Harry and Hayato. But going near Varia territory and working there was just too risky. Varia members were known to be trigger/knife/sword happy. And recruitment reputedly consisted of, ' _join us or else'_.

So Naples it was.

Their first impression of the city: It is _big_ and _chaotic_.

"Okay," Harry mutters. "Find somewhere to stay?"

" _Bene_ ," Hayato agrees.

Harry had unearthed some information while they were in Venice, namely that Naples had apartment blocks that were mafia owned, which would allow them to rent a decent place to stay without having their age questioned. Civilians lived in them, too, of course, because an apartment building housing only hitmen and thieves and other lowlives was just a stupid business idea. Regardless, Harry had some adresses, and Hayato had few requirements.

They planned to stay in Naples for a while, after all. Crashing in abandoned shitholes would just give them a pathetic reputation.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **014 - Special**

Their apartment is a... Well, the kindest way to describe it would be as _humble_. It's small, tucked away in a dark alley in a not-so-reputable part of the city.

But it's got a bed large enough for two kids, the stove sort of works, and it's got some space where Hayato can make his explosives until they've got enough money for him to get the good stuff from a real supplier instead of his homemade explosives. They aren't bad, just... nothing beats real dynamite.

All in all, the apartment isn't so bad. Harry seems to like it. But then, Harry is the most undemanding person Hayato knows. She once told him, _I only need the clothes on my back and you to consider myself rich, Hayato_. And Hayato immediately decided that someone who wanted for so little deserved _everything_.

One day. He'd give her the life she deserved. They'd be at the top of the world and want for nothing.

"So," Harry says, giving him a smirk. "You go scouting, I go eavesdropping?"

"No stealing today, _la gazza._ " Hayato smirks back.

She laughs. "No promises!"

She's probably going to steal him a present. It's happened before. They're small things, most of them not even valuable - like a bone-shaped candle, or a funny postcard. But Hayato treasures them anyway, because her gifts come from the heart and he'd rather get a pink plastic skull ring from Harry than a million euro set of suits from anybody else.

"I'll see you later," he says softly.

"Yeah." Harry smiles at him. "Bye, 'yato!"

She jumps out of the window onto a nearby rooftop with a laugh and is gone, leaving Hayato shaking his head at her fondly. UMA or not, Harry was a special girl.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **015 - Alessandro Abandonato**

Harry and Hayato have to start from scratch. First order is to familiarise themselves with the city. Naples is much different from Bologna. The city is chaotic and lively, and several larger Famiglias were represented here, even if they had their home bases elsewhere.

Once they have a good grasp of the city's layout, they scout out the local underworld. Like anywhere else, the underworld in Naples operated on a sort of class system. At the bottom are people who aren't actually aware of the Mafia, but did work for it anyway - the desperate homeless hoping to make a living on the other side of the law, the ruthless cutthroats with their eyes on power. A step up from that were people that were aware, but not fully entrenched in the underworld - information brokers are an example for that. The class above that would be freelancers, hitmen and the like, people who do work for the mafia but aren't part of any Famiglia. There are layers within that class itself, some of them are just lowlives while others are respected by even the large Families. Another class would be the grunts - members of Families who follow orders but don't have any real sway or power. They make up the majority of the underworld.

And then there are the people who call the shots. Higher placed within the Mafia; captains, Generals, Guardians, the ones who keep the Mafia running. That's the class Hayato is aiming for.

And the most powerful class, the bosses. Where the _real_ power lays. The people who steer the direction life in the underworld takes.

Of course, there are differences in power there. For example, the Quattrini Don in Bologna would be much lower placed in the hierarchy than any Vongola Guardian or General and even some captains, that's just how powerful the Vongola are. It's one of the reasons Hayato and Harry have their eyes on the Vongola, the name alone comes with protection and respect.

At the moment though, they are both somewhere between freelance work and homeless. Not quite at the bottom, but close to it. They did manage in Bologna, but they didn't have much competition there either. Here, though, the underworld thrives. And what reasonable person would hire two supposedly green kids when there were hardened and ruthless mercenaries with years of experience to choose from?

A desperate one, that's who. Alessandro Abandonato is a captain of the once prestigious Chiavarone Famiglia, a Famiglia that had lost most of its power and money and were just barely holding on to their chapter in Naples. Alessandro operates on a tight budget that just isn't enough for what he needed done _right now_. Which is to keep the Filipi Famiglia from buying up a certain business that would give said Family a monopoly in Naples and drive out the Chiavarone entirely. The nature of the needed sabotage was delicate, the job would be dangerous and risky; and anybody who could have done it would demand far too much payment than Alessandro could afford.

(The entire Filipi situation is Alessandro's fault in the first place because he had a little gambling problem. And there had been a few unsanctioned actions he'd taken that had financially sort of backfired on him and the Family by extension, not that anyone knew that.)

Alessandro thought he'd caught a lucky break when a Filipi warehouse burned down. He did raise a sceptical eyebrow when a Filipi owned store was robbed. When the police busted a drug laboratory that, while on paper owned by a freelancer, was almost certainly under Filipi operations... well. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action; and Alessandro wants to _know_.

And then that girl shows up on the windowsill of his office which is located on the fourth floor of the Chiavarone mansion in Naples. "First one's free," she says brightly. "But we're open to negotiotiations on prices, _Signor_ Abandonato!"

"Wha-wha-wha?!" is all Alessandro gets out.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **016 - A good life**

As it turns out, the Chiavarone have many jobs they need done. The payment isn't that great, but for Harry and Hayato it's more than enough, considering they're newcomers in Naples and only pre-teens to boot. Besides, it does give them lots of experience, and eventually, they would get jobs from other Families, too. The jobs are at least more challenging than they had been in Bologna.

It's a good deal, and Harry and Hayato do good work. At least in Naples, the Chiavarone Famiglia's standing is now secure, thanks to them. Alessandro even offers them a place in the Family, but after talking it over, they turn him down. They want to make their names first before accepting an offer from the first Family that came along. They do, however, accept a deal to prioritise jobs the Chiavarone offer over others in exchange for a loose affiliation with the Chiavarone that grants them some protection.

If they play their cards right, they might even get a ticket into Mafia Land one day, where the _really_ big jobs were. The ones that would get their names _out there_.

Harry and Hayato do have a way to go before they are ready for that, though.

Months pass. Harry realises with a start that she and Hayato have known each other for a year now, which means she had to be nine now, and Hayato ten. She'd long forgotten when her birthday was, the Dursleys had never celebrated it of course, because of the UMA conspiracy. And she doesn't know Hayato's birthday... so she just randomly choses a day and sneaks them both into a planetarium as a present. Hayato in turn gets them tickets to an amusement park the next day, since it was 'her birthday too'.

It's a good life.

Until Hayato gets kidnapped.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **017 - The kidnapping incident (I)**

It starts out as a normal day. Or night. Hayato and Harry mostly operate on a nocturnal schedule these days. Hayato by necessity, because blowing shit up in broad daylight is just asking for trouble, and Harry because of Hayato. Her thievery she actually likes to pull off during the daytime - for some reason, people never expect a break-in to happen in mid-afternoon.

Then again, that makes stealing stuff at night more challenging and fun, so she isn't complaining.

Anyway, they have a quick dinner/breakfast/whatever at 6 pm. Then Hayato leaves to stock up on dynamite at a Chiavarone supplier, which he now gets for a low price because of their loose affiliation with the Family. Harry meanwhile has papers to steal from a bank. Just because her and Hayato are partners, doesn't mean they do every single thing together.

When she drops the papers off in Alessandro's office, she notices that the atmosphere is weird. Outwardly, nothing is different, it's just the feel of the place is more... charged? And Alessandro seems shifty for some reason when he tells her that there won't be any job to do for the rest of the week, so why not take a little vacation and buy herself something nice?

Like Harry is an idiot.

She leaves his office, and five minutes later reenters the Chiavarone Mansion through a balcony door.

The mansion is vast and rich. Harry has explored it before, because breaking into a _real_ Mafia mansion? _Hell yes_. So she knows the corridors and where to go so she won't get caught.

The source of the weird atmosphere is kind of easy to find. She just has to follow the noise.

There's a group of people just talking in the middle of the stairwell without a care in the world, and heck if it isn't the single most _weird_ assortment of people Harry has ever seen. There's a blond teenager laid out face first on the stairs, apparently just having fallen over. Then there's the obvious cause of his fall, namely a baby with a fedora sitting on his head and a glowing ball with eyes tucked under his arm. Another teenager, this one with black hair and a lazy expression, stands next to a really pretty girl with pink hair.

Hayato is on the ground at her feet, foam coming out of his mouth.

Harry frowns. This doesn't look good. She wants to storm in and get Hayato and _get out_ , but something stops her. It's the baby, she thinks. There's something wrong with that baby. It's _terrifiying_.

The girl is clutching the black-haired boy's arm to her flat chest. "Ohhh, thank you Romeo!" she coos.

"Why?" the boy on the ground shrieks. "He didn't do anything! And why's the kid foaming at the mouth?!" The baby kicks him.

"Shut it, Pipsqueak Dino," it says.

"He must have passed out from happiness seeing his _lovely_ sister," the one named Romeo drawls slowly. "Right, Bianchi?"

The girl stares at him with stars in her eyes.

 _What the hell,_ Harry thinks. _Sister?!_

"He doesn't look very happy!" the one called Dino yells, flailing on the ground. The baby hops off his head, and Dino's flailing momentum makes him tumble down the rest of the stairs.

"Ohh, Hayato!" the pretty girl coos, kneeling beside Hayato. Harry wants to strangle her. "Your big sister was soooo worried!" She hugs his foaming head to herself. "I came all this way to find you and bring you home!"

Home? Bring him _home_? Hayato has never talked about his home. He's never talked about a sister, either. Only sometimes he'd make his frowny face and get all grumpy, and Harry would cheer him up, and he'd tell her he was thinking of before he met her.

Anyway, _home_ isn't with that Bianchi girl. Home is with Harry in their little appartement, with UMA experiments and making plans together and giving stupid little presents for no good reason, and sneaking into libraries together and eating Harry's cooking because Hayato always burns what he makes, though Harry eats it anyway because he made it for her.

Bianchi can't take Harry's Hayato away. Harry won't _let_ her. If that girl tries to steal Hayato she has another think coming.

"He collapsed the moment he saw you!" Dino protests, finally getting to his feet.

"From happiness!" Bianchi says earnestly. Her eyes are as green as Hayato's, Harry notices angrily.

"That's not a normal sign of happiness!" The baby kicks Dino. He falls over. "Argh!"

"Pipsqueak Dino," the baby says. "Mafia Bosses always respect ladies."

"Reborn, I'm _so_ grateful!" Bianchi gushes, still stroking Hayato's silver hair. Harry's finger dig into the wall besider her so hard, it starts to... smoke? There are orange sparks coming from her hands, and the wall is smoking around her fingers. Great, more UMA abilities she and Hayato can explore _once she has him back_. _She'll always protect him._

"Of course, Bianchi," the terrifying baby named Reborn says, smirking. "Pipsqueak Dino was happy to help you find your brother."

"No I wasn't!" Dino shouts, only to get kicked again.

Harry finally manages to pry her hand off the destroyed wall. The sparks on her fingers - orange, but in varying tones of orange, Harry could swear some have a dark blue hue - extinguish; and Harry slips out of the mansion.

She's a thief and if they take the one precious thing she has in her life, then she'll just steal it back.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے


	4. 018 - 021

**018 - The kidnapping incident (II)**

They keep Hayato in a bedroom on the fifth floor. It doesn't have a window and the door is locked.

Hayato is royally pissed when he wakes up. Not only has he been _captured_ , no, now he's going to be dragged back to _that place,_ and what about Harry? And all his dynamite has been taken.

He growls and punches the wall. Think! There has got to be a way out of here! Or at least a way to get a message to Harry, because if anyone can get him out, it would be her. She'd also be the only one who cared enough about him to do it.

Actually, she's the only one who cares about him and what he wants at all.

The door opens. In falls a blond guy, falling on his nose face first with a yell. Hayato takes a running leap over him and his promptly thrown back by a dark-haired teenager. "Whoa, not so fast," the guy drawls. "Man, you ain't cute at all."

Hayato growls and reaches for his dynamite. He finds none.

"Who the _fuck_ are you!" he demands.

"Your sister's boyfriend," the asshole replies, looking completely bored. "You may call me older brother. We've come to bring you home."

"I refuse," Hayato growls out. "Go to hell!"

Home is with Harry. It's as simple as that.

"Oi," the blond one says from the ground. "I'm sure we can talk this over-"

A baby jumps on his head and all Hayato can think is, _oh shit_.

"Mafia bosses need to be aware of their surroundings," Reborn of the Arcobaleno declares while the blond one falls over with a cry. Beady black eyes fix on Hayato. "Hello, Hayato Gokudera."

Hayato grits his teeth. Shamal had told him a bit of the Arcobaleno, enough for him to know that-

An explosion shakes the house. Reborn doesn't even move, but the blond one wails about his lot in life and how it's all Reborn's fault, and the asshole from before curses and runs out.

Hayato has a pretty good idea what's going on. It seems Harry has gotten wind of his disappearance and put some of his explosives to good use. His heart skips a beat in elation, because she _came_ for him.

Now he just has to figure out what to do about Reborn.

He glares at the baby. The teenager below Reborn whimpers pathetically.

Another explosion sounds from a different part of the house. Now Gokudera frowns. Harry normally isn't one for destruction unless it's necessary...

" _Signor Dino!_ " a familiar voice shouts, and there comes Alessandro a-running. Hayato glares at him, the fucking traitor. "There- it's- it's the Filipi! They're attacking us!"

"What? Why?!" Dino shrieks, Reborn jumping of his head so he can stand. "What's going on, why's this happening?"

Hayato starts to laugh. It's wholly inappropriate, but he can't stop it.

Harry is here, and she's waging war on his behalf.

" _You_!" Alessandro growls. "This is your fault! You violated the contract-"

"What is the meaning of this," Reborn demands.

Hayato laughs at Alessandro's rage. "You did it first," he says. "You sold me out when there was a deal. We work for the Chiavarone, the Chiavarone offer protection. Did you honestly think _La gazza_ would let it slide?"

"Wait, what? Chiavarone protection?" Dino's gaze darts between Hayato and Alessandro. "Deal? Why don't I know about this?"

"He lies! He lies!" Alessandro yells.

"Thought you could get rid of me like this and earn yourself a golden nose too, huh, you fucking traitor?" Hayato demands. "Didn't think of _La gazza ladra_ , did you?!"

"Explain yourself," Reborn says to Alessandro, deadly serious.

Alessandro gasps and points at Hayato. "He's lying! This... brat and his partner, they've worked for us, and now they've turned against the Chiavarone! They broke their contract!"

"Shut your fucking trap!" Hayato shouts. "You said if we did jobs for the Chiavarone and kept it quiet, the Family would protect us! Loose affiliation, you said!"

"Is that true?" Dino asks sharply. Reborn looks at him approvingly.

"No! _Signor_ Dino, I've been serving the Chiavarone for ten years!"

Hayato sneers. "Earned a pretty penny, too, didn't you? Gambled it all away until all you could afford to do your dirty work were two kids!"

"You- he's lying, _signor_!"

"Did you think we'd just work for anyone without having insurance?" Hayato growls. "You've been embezzling money for years to finance your gambling. We've seen you at the gambling dens. We knew you'd hire us 'cause you were fucking desperate!"

"How _dare_ you accuse me of-" Alessandro bellows, white with rage or fear.

"I believe him," Dino suddenly says. He turns to Hayato. "I'm sorry, it seems my Family has caused you trouble."

"You can't seriously _believe_ him-"

"Pipsqueak Dino for once has the right idea. You're lying," Reborn speaks up. Alessandro pales even more, and suddenly he's reaching into his jacket for a gun, only-

"Where's my-"

"Gun?" a bright voice asks from behind him. Alessandro whirls around.

Harry stands there. A gun in her hand. She effortlessly dissembles it and lets the parts drop to the ground, all with a sweet, innocent smile on her face.

"You little thieving bitch!" Alessandro roars and takes a threatening step towards her. "You-"

She punches him where it hurts. Alessandro folds like a stack of bricks. Hayato feels a fierce sense of pride. He taught her that. On other people, of course.

"That's for selling Hayato out," she hisses. Then she stomps on his ribs. "And that's for being a piece of shit, ya rat bastard!"

" _La gazza ladra_?" Reborn asks. He's looking at her with interest, and Hayato doesn't like it one bit. He's just glad she thought to wear a cap to hide her very recognisable scar and shade her eyes.

Harry looks up and nods. "We're leaving, Hayato," she says firmly.

"Finally!" he growls, and pushes past Dino to Harry's side.

She's looking coldly at Reborn and Dino. "I understand this wasn't your fault, Chiavarone," she says coolly. "However, don't expect us to work for your Family again anytime soon."

"Y-yeah," Dino stutters.

"Wait," Reborn speaks up suddenly.

"No," Harry says. "We're leaving. You have an invasion to stop. This is over."

"You can't go out! You'll get caught in the crossfire!" Dino cries out.

Hayato snorts. "Worry about yourself."

"I have questions," Reborn says.

"Oh look, a giant espresso machine!" Harry points behind them, then she grabs Hayato and they _run_.

And Hayato laughs and laughs.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **019 - Hayato's past**

"Why didn't you tell me you had a sister?" Harry asks.

They are sitting on a rooftop, watching the sun rise. Hayato starts at the question.

Thankfully, Harry doesn't sound hurt, merely curious. He shrugs sullenly. "Not important," he grunts. Harry tilts her head.

"Okay," she simply says. Then she leans against him and rests her head on his shoulder. "Just, I'm here if you want to talk, 'yato."

Tentatively, Hayato puts his arm around her and pulls her closer. For all the time they spend together, they hardly ever touch. Hayato isn't exactly a touchy person, and he suspects there has been physical abuse in Harry's past, and the books he'd studied on the subject cautioned against recklessly touching such a person. It's okay though when Harry initiates the contact, that implies trust and fondness.

He should tell her. Harry had already gotten caught up in Hayato's mess of a family situation. And if there is anyone he trusts, anyone who _deserves_ to know, it's Harry. She'd earned his trust over and over.

So he tells her. About Bianchi's poison cookies that made his performance abstract and led to him being hailed a piano prodigy. About being fed those cookies again and again until he couldn't even look at Bianchi without severe pain, until he'd lost all joy of playing the piano, the only thing that connected him to the beautiful woman with the gentle hands who turned out to be his real mother, who had her life and career ruined by his father. About her death that couldn't possibly be a suicide because she'd had a present for Hayato with her in the car. About how it was very likely that it had been his father who orchestrated the accident she died in. He tells her about being a bastard, about being rejected, about being paraded around like a show dog at piano recitals and being sneered down upon otherwise.

Harry just listens, and when Hayato is done she hugs him fiercely as if she could shield him from the whole world just by doing that. In a way, she's successful.

"You've got me now," she whispers. "I'll protect you. I won't let them take you away."

Hayato stares at her, marveling about what he has done to ever deserve her.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **020 - The plotting baby**

Reborn is, all in all, pretty pleased with himself. His partner Leon had come out of his metamorphosis well, had produced a weapon and an animal partner for Pipsqueak Dino, and Dino had managed to defeat the entire Filipi Famiglia almost entirely by himself. Granted, he was back to being a complete idiot now, but Reborn had observed that he did better when a subordinate was around, so maybe it wasn't completely hopeless. Anyway, Reborn is the World's Greatest Hitman, even if there was _no hope at all_ , Dino _would_ become a Great Mafia Boss.

There's just something bugging Reborn. Or more somethings, Bianchi's persistent simpering over Romeo, for one, and her hypocritical wailing over 'poor Hayato being kidnapped by some trollop'.

His information had not been accurate. It wasn't wrong per say, but incomplete.

For one, Hayato Gokudera had not been the half-feral reckless brat Reborn had been told he was. Yes, there was a bad temper and a great deal of recklessness, but there was also intelligence and calculation.

And then there was the girl. _La gazza ladra_ , Gokudera had called her, the Thieving Magpie. Quite obviously Gokudera's partner and friend, and most likely the reason for his not being the feral hazard of a kid Shamal had told Reborn he was. Also, a skilled thief. A skilled thief with the one of the purest Flames he had ever come across, right on par with Luce. And not only that, a _Sky_ to boot. With a side of Mist maybe, given her stealth and cunning. And she had come out of nowhere. It would have been next to impossible for almost any Famiglia to hide the birth of a young Sky that powerful, if they'd even have been willing to hide her - producing even on Sky could boost a Family's esteem significantly, and the political connections that could be opened up simply the formation of Guardian Bonds could make or break a Family.

She is new, then. An unknown. It was a pity she'd run away that soon.

Going through Alessandro Abandonato's files had unearthed quite a bit of information about the pair's accomplishments, and if Reborn were anybody else, he'd probably have been impressed. Since he is Reborn, he's only curious. It isn't every day that he finds himself even mildly surprised, and a little girl of maybe eight or nine years instigating a small-scale war on a respected Famiglia over a friend is most certainly surprising, even more so since he had not heard of her before, which he _should have_. According to Abandonato's files, she'd done some fairly impressive heists.

Reborn is _curious_.

And so he plots.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **021 - An unexpected visitor**

Harry and Hayato leave Naples. It's just too risky to stay there, what with Bianchi looking for Hayato, and the Chiavarone gone as a client. They didn't really have contacts aside from them, and the thing with the Filipi isn't particularly good for their reputation.

San Marino is not exactly full of Mafia activity. It's a peaceful town, rich with tourism, with an incredibly low crime rate. Harry loves it, loves bathing on the beach and lazing around in the sun on the rooftops like a cat. Hayato likes that there is a university, which Harry and him figure out pretty fast how to sneak into.

It's, well, it's a vacation, it can't be called anything else. Hayato and Harry have commandeered an empty appartment that's actually in pretty good shape, and they live off Harry's pickpocketing skills. A nice, easy, and peaceful life.

Which is why Hayato is understandably pissed when they get a visitor.

"The hell're you doing here, Shamal!" he growls when he walks out of the bedroom to see Shamal lounging on the ratty couch. This is, of course, after he'd screeched in surprise, jumped, and hit his head on the door frame.

"I'll be crashing here for a bit," Shamal answers jovially, that big, dumb, grin on his face.

"Hayato? What's going ooooon?" Harry asks as she walks in, yawning.

Shamal falls off the couch. "There's a girl!" Hayato kicks him.

"Shamal was just leaving," he snarls.

"Shamal?" Harry asks, slightly confused. "The doctor with lots of sisters?" Then she shrugs. "Huh. Okay. Hi." She waves awkwardly from behind Hayato. "Nice to meet ya!"

The idiot doctor gets up, rubbing his head while absently batting another kick of Hayato's away. He grins at Harry, grabs her hand, and kisses it. "Good morning _,_ little lady!" he greets, making her giggle which just pisses Hayato off. Then he takes a closer look at Hayato's friend and his jaw drops.

"Harriet Potter," he whispers. "Oh hell."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے


	5. 022 - 026

**022 - Shamal**

"What?" barks Hayato like the rude brat he is. Shamal ignores him and studies the girl that _damn Reborn didn't warn him about, the little bastard._

Long, curly red hair, big brilliant green eyes. Small, signs of malnutrition, possibly stunted growth. Scar on her forehead. Shamal can sense the magic radiating off of her.

Not only is it a girl, not only is it a witch, it's _Harriet bloody Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived_.

What the _hell_ is she doing in Italy, with his idiot of a student?! And what the hell is he supposed to tell Reborn now?!

"The hell?!" Hayato snarls at Shamal. "Stop staring at her, you bastard!"

"Uh, my name's Harry?" the girl asks, shooting Hayato a concerned look.

Shamal forces a grin. "My utmost pleasure to meet you, little lady," he says. "Might I ask how such a cute girl ended up living with this rude student of mine?"

The girl grabs Hayato's arm and hugs it to her like a loved teddy bear. "Hayato is nice," she protests softly, looking up at him with those big green eyes.

Shit, she's adorable.

"Why'd you call me Harriet?" she asks, tilting her head, while Hayato glares at Shamal.

Shamal groans. Why the hell would she ask- oh no no _no_. This had got to be a joke.

"You don't know your own name," he states, trying his best not to sound too pissed lest Hayato throw a tantrum.

"It's Harry," she says.

"It's short for Harriet," Shamal answers slowly. While she looks confused, Hayato is now frowning.

"You know something," Hayato says.

"Know something!" Shamal explodes. "Do you even know who you have there! Who she is?! _What_ she is?!"

Hayato looks ready to explode, but Harry answers. "UMA. Hayato says I'm a UMA."

Shamal facepalms. "Hayato!" he growls. "You can't tell a cute girl she's a UMA!"

"Why not?" Harry asks, frowning. How old is she? She looks seven or eight, but according to what he knows, she had to be... nine and a few months old, now.

Shamal sighs, cursing his idiot of a student. "It's not a very nice thing to say to a girl, little lady."

Hayato curses at Shamal. Harry doesn't even bat an eyelash, and why the hell is she even with Hayato?! What the hell are those idiot wizards doing?! Shamal hasn't really been in touch with that world since he got kicked out of the family for being a squib, but he _was_ aware of the major happenings, and a baby blasting the Dark Lord to smithereens most certainly counted as a major happening. That was the Wizarding World's greatest hero standing right there, hugging Hayato's arm and listening to him curse while using the world's deadliest pout on Shamal.

"But why wouldn't it be nice?" she asks.

"Do you know what UMA means, little lady?" Shamal asks.

She nods seriously. "Yeah. Hayato says it means I'm precious, and unique, and smart, and really really special."

...Shamal wants to cry. They're so damn innocent! And now he really wants to pat himself on the shoulder for raising Hayato right.

"Oi," Hayato growls. "The hell do you know 'bout Harry?"

Goddammit.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **023 - Explanations**

"So magic is real?" Harry asks blankly. "And there are more UMAs?"

That's... well. She doesn't quite know how to feel about that.

Shamal buries his face in his hands. He does that a lot, Harry doesn't know why. Anyway, Hayato hasn't said anything in the past ten minutes when he should have been all over the fact that Shamal knows about UMAs and how they have their own secret society and stuff.

"Wizards and witches," Shamal groans. "Stop calling them UMAs!"

"But they _are_ UMAs, aren't they?" Harry points out reasonably.

"No, they're still humans, for the last time!" Shamal breathes out irritably.

"Yeah, but UMAs are humanoid, too," Harry protests.

Hayato cuts in. "What happens if they want Harry in their world?"

"Why would they?" Harry asks. "I mean, I'm just Harry. And I wanna stay with you, 'yato."

"Would they let her?" Hayato asks Shamal

Shamal grimaces.

Harry hugs Hayato's arm a little closer. "I'm staying with him!" she says stubbornly.

Hayato is Harry's. Hayato is home.

"I told you, you're a hero to them. The political significance you hold-"

Harry glares. "I'm not some- some _thing_. I'm a person! And I don't _want_ that world! I just want to stay with Hayato!" She stomps her foot angrily.

"What's Mafia Law got to say about wizards?" Hayato asks.

See, that's why Harry has to stay with him. He's the smart one. He knows the right questions to ask.

Shamal sighs. "The Mafia and Wizarding World stay separated and mostly secret from each other. The separation falls under a clause of Omertà and is enforced by the Vindice."

All three occupants of the room simultaneously shudder. The Vindice are no joke.

"A member of the wizarding world who joins the mafia may not return. They forfeit their wands and may henceforth only use their magic in ways that do not reveal it as what it is. There are a number of individuals with obscure abilities in the Mafia, so magic is easy to conceal," Shamal continues.

"Is my sister a witch?" Hayato asks suddenly.

"No, Bianchi's Poison Cooking ability has no origin in magic," Shamal answers. Hayato opens his mouth to ask something, but Shamal just keeps talking. "Anyway! A child of the Mafia born with magic can refuse magical education, but they do have to complete a course in controlling their magic. If they do choose proper magical education, they have to make a final decision which world they wish to live in upon the age of majority."

"So you can't really switch between the worlds? Or live in both?" Harry asks.

"No. It's forbidden. The risk of our worlds coming in close contact would be too great," Shamal answers. "In the past, conflicts between Mafia and Wizarding World have never ended well."

"So there's no problem!" Harry says. "I'll just tell them that I don't wanna go to magic school and it'll be fine."

Shamal grimaces again, but it's Hayato who grits out an answer. "No. I know their type. They think they're entitled to you. They'll take you away."

"No way!" Harry jumps up angrily. "They can't do that!" She stomps her foot again. "I'd like to see them catch me!"

"Hayato is right," Shamal says. "Normally, they wouldn't bother trying to force your return to the magical world. However, with your status, they most certainly will. Moreover, this is Wizarding _Britain_ we're talking about. They're the worst of the lot. None of them will take no for an answer, and they do have some legal standing to force the matter. You _are_ a member of a noble family, your name has most definitely been put down on the Hogwarts attendance list, and your legal guardians - the ones you ran away from - are not in the Mafia. Not to mention your Girl-Who-Lived title."

Hayato glares at the ground. Harry's mind is working furiously. "No way!" she snaps. "I refuse! I'm staying with Hayato!" Her hands do the sparkly thing again. Shamal's eyes widen, but before he can say anything, Hayato speaks up.

"What if she joins a Famiglia?" Hayato asks. "Then she'd clearly fall under Mafia Law."

Shamal is staring at Harry's sparking hands. "It _could_ work..." he mutters. "Harry, what are those Flames?"

Harry glares at him. "Aren't they magic?"

He shakes his head. "No, _those_ prove that you _do_ have a right to be in the mafia. As for Hayato's idea, it _could_ work, but it would need to be one of the old and powerful Famiglie, and it needs to be done soon."

Harry hesitates. "We might be able to rig something with the Chiavarone..."

"Not powerful enough," Shamal says instantly. "And I don't think their Don is even aware of magic. Not to mention, Dino is barely eighteen."

"...I've got some time, right?" Harry asks. "They'll come for me when I'm eleven, you said?"

Shamal snorts. "Believe me, they'll be looking for you even now. I'd be careful if I were you. Leave San Marino as soon as you can, the reason the Mafia is so inactive here is because it's wizard's ground."

Harry bites her lip, silent desperation welling up in her. Hayato pulls her closer to him. "We'll figure it out," he whispers in her ear. "Where's safe for her?" he asks out louder. "And why haven't they found her yet?"

"Mafia Land is safe. Wizards don't have access there." Shamal fixes them with a look. "Though if they figure out that that's where she is, all it'd take is a deal with whoever's in charge and she'd be handed over on a silver platter. As for why she hasn't been found yet, I'd guess it's because most tracking spells function with tracking-by-name, and seeing as Harry didn't even know hers and thus didn't identify with it, they didn't work. There's also tracking-by-blood, but they'd obviously need blood for that."

Harry breathes in relief. "There's no blood they can get," she says proudly. "The Dursleys never took me to a doctor."

Shamal looks furious for a moment, but takes a breath to calm himself. "A matter we'll rectify after this discussion is over with, little lady." He gives her a smile that is obviously forced. "You could probably be found with tracking-by-intent; but as far as I know, only specific items are capable of that. Something to look into later, I suppose."

"C-can you help us?" Harry asks timidly. "To find me a Family, I mean. You've got contacts and stuff, right?"

She never asks anybody for any kind of help, ever. But she'd do anything to stay with Hayato. She stares at Shamal. "Please," she whispers.

Shamal groans.

"Shamal," Hayato says. "We need your help."

"Goddammit!" Shamal growls. "Fine."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **024 - Safe house**

Milan has one of the highest populations in all of Italy. Shamal has a safe apartment there.

He tells Harry to stay inside and not use magic at all if she can help it. When Hayato asks him about her sparking hands which Shamal said weren't magic, Shamal growls at him stating that _that_ isn't anything for him to mess with because at his age, it would probably kill Hayato. Which implies that in theory, Hayato _should_ be able to make sparks, too.

Harry catches Hayato trying to make his own hands spark and scolds him horribly, because _what if something happened to him_? _What would she do then_? Then she starts to cry, which she never does ever, and Hayato is so horrified that he promises her not to do the spark thing until Shamal says he's old enough.

Shamal vanishes on them the second day, leaving a note stuck to the fridge and a bunch of books on the kitchen table. Apparently he has to _check in with contacts_.

Hayato devours the books with fanatical passion. Harry tries, but is climbing the walls after an hour. She _hates_ being stuck inside. Ever since she left the Dursleys behind, she'd found great enjoyment in her freedom. It's why she loves the rooftops so much.

As distracted as Hayato is, he almost doesn't notice that Harry is behaving oddly. She won't meet his eyes, will leave a room once he enters, and sleep in a different room from him. And there are no more little notes and gifts lying around for him.

When he finally does notice, it's because of one of those small things missing. See, Harry and Hayato have these little rituals. And one of them is that they share their food. Not in an open manner, but when Hayato eats, suddenly he'll find a few raisins that weren't there before in the upper left corner of his plate. And he'll push tomatoes (which he doesn't like) to the edge of his plate and find them missing a moment later. (He does the same with walnuts, not because he doesn't like them but because he knows that Harry adores them.)

So when he's at breakfast while speed-reading a book about magical history and habitually stabs a fork at the part of his plate where the good things usually appeared and finds nothing there, he looks up and notices that Harry isn't even sitting at the table with him. Which, frankly, baffles him. They always eat breakfast together and plan for the day.

Maybe she slept in, he thinks and makes her a few sandwiches so she can have breakfast later, it's the most important meal of the day after all. Still, when the sandwiches remain untouched the following hours and she doesn't even show for lunch, Hayato begins to get concerned. He'd heard Shamal mutter some curses about malnutrition after he gave Harry a health check before he left. No way would Hayato let Harry jeopardise her own health. Come to think of it, she never does eat a lot or even regularly. As wonderful a person as Harry is, Hayato can freely admit that she isn't the most responsible girl in the world and downright reckless most of the time.

Well, not anymore! Hayato would make sure Harry ate healthily from now on!

"Harry!" he calls out. "Lunch is ready!"

She doesn't answer, and now Hayato frowns. This isn't like her at all. Possible explanations flood his brain, none of which he likes.

He finds her lying on the balcony's railing. It shouldn't look comfortable, but it does. She doesn't look very happy, though. "I made us lunch," Hayato announces. Harry blinks.

"Oh," she says. "Thanks. I'm not really hungry though. Can I eat it later?"

Her stomach growls. She flushes.

"Tell me what's wrong," Hayato demands. She looks away.

"Nothing. I'm fine," she answers.

Yeah right, Hayato thinks angrily. Doesn't she trust him? Well, tough! He stalks over to her and plucks her off the railing. "Hey!" she protests while he carries her struggling form back into the appartment. "What're you doing?!"

"Feeding you," he growls back and deposits her on a chair. The plate with rice and steamed vegetables is placed in front of her. "Eat."

She growls at him, green eyes blazing. "Not hungry!"

"I heard your stomach growl!" Hayato snaps back.

"Well you heard wrong!" Harry jumps up, the chair clattering to the ground behind her.

"You skipped breakfast already!" Hayato snarls. "It's unhealthy to skip meals!"

"It isn't when I'm _not hungry_!" she yells.

Hayato throws his arms up. "Don't be an idiot!"

"Then don't be an asshole!"

They glare at each other. Harry huffs and turns away. Hayato feels something in his heart crack.

"You want to go back, is that it?" he demands. "There's a world full of people _just like you_ with amazing powers who adore you, and now I'm not good enough for you?!"

She whirls around, long red hair almost whipping him in the face. "Like you even want me here! You only like me because of the UMA thing! And now it turns out that I'm not, and I'm not _unique_ and _special_ , there's tons of UMAs!"

"So go!" he growls. "God knows _I_ can't offer you anything better than _this_!" He gestures to their surroundings, but really he means _everything_ \- life on the streets, shortage of food, danger, poverty.

"I don't want to!" she shrieks and Hayato jerks back, horrified to see tears in her eyes. "I don't want to leave you, I _like_ being with you, I think everything is perfect as it is, and wizards can go screw themselves! Just, just don't make me go, _please_! I swear I'll do better, I'll do my best, I swear I'll be useful, just please let me stay!" She sniffs, angrily wiping at her eyes.

"You... don't want to go?" Hayato asks, blinking. Because he had been convinced that-

"Of course I don't want to g-go!" Harry sobs. "Please don't make me!"

"H-hey-" Hayato says and stops. Shit, what's he supposed to say? Why had Shamal never told him what to do with crying girls? In the end, he tentatively reaches a hand out and pats her shoulder, and then he suddenly has his arms full of sobbing Harry while she clings to him and cries. Hayato freezes. This is entirely new territory. Emotional breakdowns are way out of his comfort zone, he decides. He cautiously puts his arms around Harry and strokes her hair, all the while fearing she will explode. "I thought _you_ wanted to leave," he says cautiously. She clings to him even tighter.

"No," she cries. "Hayato, you big dummy."

"Sorry," he mutters gruffly. Shit, he sucks at this. "Don't you dare leave me, woman."

"Y-you really want me?" she sniffs.

"Why the hell wouldn't I?" he growls. "You're my partner!"

"'cause I'm not an UMA and I'm not special and stuff!" she whispers almost inaudibly.

Hayato growls and tightens his arms around her. "You're Harry and that's special enough."

Because Harry-the-friend trumps Harry-the-UMA any day and there is _no way_ Hayato will let anyone take her away unless she wants him to, and probably not even then. Even if there's a world for people just like her. But they _wouldn't_ be just like her, would they? Not as loyal, not as friendly, not as selfless. That's all Harry. No one is worthy of her.

It takes over an hour for Harry to calm down, and if she's clingy and insecure for the rest of the day; well, Hayato doesn't mind.

It's not like he's any different.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **025 - Harry's past**

They have a picnic on the balcony that evening. Shamal's appartment has a great view over the roofs of the city, and when the sun sets it looks like all the roofs glow orange. Harry leans against Hayato and sighs softly.

"I wish it could always be like this," she mumbles. "You make me so happy."

Harry makes him happy, too, but the words get stuck in Hayato's throat.

"You wanna get out of here?" he asks instead. "It'll be just you and me. We'll keep running. Those bastards won't ever catch us!"

She giggles a little. "I'd love that. It sounds like a whole lot of fun."

Hayato grins. "We could live in Antarctica in an igloo with penguins."

"Nah, too cold," Harry grins. "How 'bout a jungle? We could have an amazing tree house! And go hunting and stuff, and make friends with monkeys."

"Train a herd of parrots to speak," Hayato continues that train of thought. Harry nods seriously.

"They can be our spies," she declares. "The wizards will never figure it out!"

Hayato can almost see it before his inner eye. Harry and him, living in the jungle waging a silent war against a bunch of wizards and winning thanks to monkey-friends and parrot-spies.

"Too bad 'bout the penguins, though," Harry remarks.

"We'll visit them during vacations," Hayato shrugs.

"D'you think I could tame a crocodile?"

"I think you could do anything you put your mind to." Hayato smiles at her. Harry giggles.

"Only with your help. I don't know anything 'bout crocodiles. What do they even eat?" she asks.

"Meat. Anything they can hunt. Studies prove that 13 out of 18 crocodile species ingest fruits, nuts and seedlings, though. They're omnivores," Hayato answers without missing a beat. Harry shakes her head, grinning.

"I don't know what I'd do without you, 'yato," she mumbles. "You're the bestest."

Hayato preens.

They sit in silence for a few minutes.

"Y'know," Hayato says hesitantly. "I told you about my past."

"Mmm," Harry hums.

"You could tell me about yours, too," he suggests, and feels her tense for a moment before she relaxes.

"D'you really wanna know?" she asks quietly.

He nods. "Yes," he says firmly. Harry nods slowly, biting her lip.

"Okay then," she says hesitantly, sitting up. "It's not that interesting, though."

"Out with it," Hayato orders.

"Okay," she repeats, staring at her hands. "Uh, well. I grew up with the Dursley family - my Aunt Petunia, her husband Vernon, and their son Dudley." She shrugs. "I was apparently left on their doorstep when I was one year old, and they took me in out of the kindness of their hearts, even though they knew I was abnormal and would be a bad influence on Dudley."

Hayato's fists clench. "Abnormal?" he growls out. Harry gives him a bright smile, the kind that could be fake or real or both at once, it's impossible to tell.

"Guess they must've been talking 'bout magic," she muses. "Didn't know that then, though. Anyway, they liked things normal and orderly, and I did my best. Learned cooking, did the laundry, weeded the garden, I tried really hard, y'know? Wasn't enough, they still locked me in at night and yelled at me a lot, 'specially when they caught me sneaking food from the table." She laughs a little, shaking her head. "I wouldn't get caught now, though!"

Hayato forces a grin, trying not to think about why Harry would even _feel the need_ to steal food from her own family, or of her being locked up and getting yelled at after spending the entire day working her ass off.

"Did they hit you?" he blurts out.

Harry tilts her head, her smile somewhat brittle and lost. "No, not really. I mean, Uncle Vernon threatened to a lot, but the worst he did was grab me really hard and throw me in my cupboard." She rubs at her arm as if remembering the bruises once put there, but all Hayato's mind is stuck on are the words ' _my cupboard'_. Like someone else would say ' _my room'_. "Aunt Petunia swung the frying pan at me once or twice, but I don't think actually she meant to hit me, she didn't do it again." Harry shrugs. "Dudley hit me sometimes, but that's how boys play, right?"

"No, it's not," Hayato says quietly. She isn't listening, though.

"It was fine, I guess, better than an orphanage I'm sure." Harry nods to herself. "But then we went to Italy for a holiday, and Uncle Vernon got all weird and shifty-eyed, and then those _Estraneo_ people showed up and gave him money, and I heard them talking and well, I just got this weird urge to run away, so that's what I did, and you know the rest." She shoots him a quick grin. "It wasn't a bad life with them, honest."

"It wasn't?" Hayato asks, feeling sick.

Her gaze goes distant. "I told myself that all the time."

He puts an arm around her draws her close. She ends up sort of sprawled on his lap, her fingers clinging to his shirt.

"Why did you even bother with me?" Hayato mutters into her hair. "I wasn't exactly nice to you."

"Dunno," she mumbles into his shoulder. He can feel her tremble a little, can hear the waver in her voice. "Back when I was still with them. I told myself that... I couldn't stand the thought of being... so completely unloved. So I made up reasons for them treating me like they did, that they did it out of _love_... so yeah. You glaring at me... was familiar, so I stuck with you. You were different from them, though. I'm glad I met you."

Hayato swallows hard and pulls her closer to him. "I'm glad I met you, too."

She laughs, voice choked. "Look at that, I'm crying again. S-sorry I'm so annoying."

"You're fine the way you are," Hayato says roughly. "Stop apologising, woman."

"'kay," she whispers. "You _really_ are the bestest, y'know that?"

"Tch," he mutters. "You aren't so bad yourself."

He likes happy Harry better though.

He'd just be sure to make her smile in the future.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **026 - The doctor returns**

There is a book that Hayato is unable to read. No matter how he tries, the letters shift in front of his eyes and give him a headache. When Harry looks at it, the letters stay perfectly clear. It turns out to be a magic book on Wizarding Law. Hayato sits Harry down and makes her read it to him word for word while he takes notes. The conclusion of _that_ endeavour is that Harry absolutely refuses to have anything to do with Wizarding Law ever again. It gives her a headache. It gives Hayato a headache, too, and he's the one who can do university level physics like it's nothing.

Harry decides she'd much rather fall under Mafia Law than the convoluted shit British wizards call law. Even if Mafia Law is much harsher than the wizard stuff, at least she'll know when she's doing something illegal. Wizarding Law has more loopholes and pitfalls than actual laws.

Shamal comes back two weeks after he deserted them. By then, all the books have been read and Hayato is in the process of teaching Harry some fighting moves. Harry already knows some stuff, but she'd be the first to admit that she prefers running over fighting, unless she's protecting Hayato.

Twin glares meet him when Shamal steps into the house with the words, "Did you miss me, my adorable little brats? By that, I mean Harry, not Hayato."

They refuse to talk to him for three hours. By then, they're sitting in a car with Shamal after he told them he may have sort of possibly maybe found a potential solution to the problem, but it really banked on Harry.

"And what's that supposed to mean, you shitty doctor?" Hayato demands.

"It means we're going to visit a Family that most definitely can protect Harry from the Wizarding World, but it's up to Harry to convince them to take her in, you annoying brat."

Harry swallows hard and grabs Hayato's hand for support.

As long as she can stay with him, she'll do anything.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()


	6. 027 - 032

**027 - Aria**

Shamal drives them to the middle of nowhere, down a long winding road. Harry is almost about to ask if he knows where he's going, until they drive around a bend and are suddenly looking at a large mansion. It's beautiful, the walls are a peerless white, there are flowers and lovely trees surrounding it. There's also an iron fence with a rather impressive guarded gate, which makes Harry tense. She isn't a fan of being locked in or out of anything.

Then again, there aren't many locks that pose actual obstacles for her.

Shamal exchanges words with a guard, and then he drives the car to a parking space.

When Shamal tells them to get out of the car, she straightens, squeezes Hayato's hand one last time, and then exits the car. Her and Hayato gather curious looks, but no one questions their presence as they follow after Shamal, who in turn follows after another man.

And then they're stopped in front of another door.

" _She_ can go in," the man who stopped them says, pointing at a by now extremely nervous Harry. "You two can't."

Shamal doesn't look happy. Hayato is about to throw dynamite, Harry knows. But she throws her arms around him, smiles at him, and then goes through the door.

Inside is a surprisingly normal-looking office. There are two people in it, a green-haired baby with glasses and a labcoat, and a beautiful woman with dark, greenish hair, blue eyes, and an odd mark on her cheek. She's easily the most beautiful woman Harry has ever seen, and her presence seems to command the entire room.

"Hello, Harriet," she says.

"Harry," Harry says automatically. "My name's Harry."

"Of course, Harry," the woman smiles. Harry smiles back tentatively. "You may call me Aria. I'm the boss of the Giglio Nero Famiglia."

"Hi," Harry whispers. "You're really pretty." The woman giggles.

"Aren't you adorable," she says. Now Harry is the one giggling. Then she waves to the baby.

"Hi, I'm Harry, what's your name?"

The baby smirks at her in a decidedly un-babylike manner, not that Harry has met many babies. Actually, the last one she saw had a gun and a fedora and was utterly terrifying. This one seems normal in comparison.

"I'm Verde, the scientist," the baby says.

"Cool!" Harry says. "My friend Hayato always talks about scientists! He's really smart! Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Mr. Verde!" She holds out her hand. Mr. Verde gives her an odd look and shakes it.

Aria clears her throat, and Harry turns back to her. "Of course, I know why you're here."

"You do?" Harry asks.

Aria nods. "I do. I know quite a lot of things, Harry. And my answer is yes."

"Really?" Harry asks hopefully. "You won't let them take me from Hayato?"

"Harry," Aria says seriously. "Do you know about what happens when a Mafia child chooses to pursue a magical education?"

"Yeah, Doctor Shamal told us," Harry answers. "They have to choose worlds at the end, and if they choose magic, they can't come back to the mafia, right?"

Aria nods her head. "Correct. Harry, I had a great-aunt once, my grandfather's older sister. Her name was Susana. She was magical, like you. She recognised that the Mafia world was a dark one, and so she chose to leave it for the world of witches and wizards."

Harry blinks. "That's sad. I bet everyone missed her."

"They did. I wasn't born yet, but she was said to be very kind and well-loved," Aria says gently. "Susana eventually married a man who was neither magical nor Mafia and had a daughter of her own. However, unlike her, the daughter was unmagical, and so Susana decided not to tell her of her heritage so that she could lead a normal life. Eventually, her daughter married and had two children of her own. And one of them, the younger, she had magic."

Harry blinks. It's interesting and all, but she has no idea why Aria is telling her this.

"The magical child's name was Lily. Her older sister was named Petunia," Aria says.

It takes a bit, but then Harry understands. "Oh," she says dazedly.

"And that is why you don't need to fear being taken to the Wizarding World, Harry," Aria tells her with a smile. "Because you already are Family."

"Oh," Harry says again.

"But we do need to talk about a few things," Aria continues, her smile fading. "First of all, you wish to stay with your friend, yes?"

Harry nods mutely.

"I can't take him in. His place isn't with the Giglio Nero," Aria says. "That means that you won't want to stay here at the mansion either, correct? I'll set you up with a way to contact the Family, I'll give you access to Mafia Land, and I'll make sure your affiliation with us is known. You'll be able to travel at your leisure, so long as you check in with us occasionally. That should take care of the Mafia aspect of things."

"Thank you, err, boss," Harry says awkwardly.

"Aria is fine," Aria informs her, smiling. "You call me boss, I call you Harriet, got it."

Harry giggles a little. Aria does, too.

"Now for the Wizarding Aspect..."

Harry stops laughing.

"When the time comes, the wizards won't accept our claim on you, unless you have a powerful connection like a Guardian Bond to us."

"Guardian Bond?" Harry asks. Aria smiles sadly.

"Nevermind you that," she says. "We have, of course, familial claim on you. However far removed, you and I are related. The Vindice will recognise that claim and retrieve you should you be taken. However, I do not want to involve the Vindice." Aria fixes Harry with a serious look. "Therefore, Harry. For the time being and until you chose otherwise, will you accept the position of the Giglio Nero Outside Advisor?"

Harry stares. "The Vongola are the only ones with Outside Advisors!" she protests.

"Well, now the Giglio Nero have one, too." Aria smirks. "The position grants you near boss authority. It'll immediately remove you from the magical world."

"Take it, kid," the green-haired baby says, righting his glasses. "Aria always gets what she wants."

"B-b-but," Harry protests. "I'm nine! The Hogwarts letter comes in two years!"

Aria laughs. "Which brings me to the next point. I can formally adopt you into the Giglio Nero. After that, I can have your name removed from the Hogwarts roster without anyone the wiser. Should you agree to a name change, many magical ways to track you would be rendered ineffective. There are a number of ways to keep you hidden. The wizards won't find you until you're fourteen at the earliest. By then you'll be ready for them."

Harry gapes at her. "How do you know all this stuff?"

Aria grins. "Secret," she says. Then her smile disappears into a somber look. "But before we do anything else, we need to talk about that scar of yours."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **028 - Consequences**

"Scar?" Harry asks uncomprehendingly. "Which scar? You mean the scar that I didn't get in a car accident? The one that isn't my UMA identification mark?"

"I mean the one on your forehead," Aria says after a couple of seconds, slightly confused.

"Yeah, that one," Harry nods. "What about it?"

Aria sighs. "Has Shamal talked to you about Flames?"

Harry thinks hard. "Nope."

"Great," Aria mutters. "Okay, here goes. The Flames of the Dying Will are the symbol of the Mafia World. Basically, they're a form of energy inside the human body, refined from the life-force. They differ in their characteristics, there are Sky, Rain, Storm, Sun, Mist, Lightning, and Cloud Flames. They also differ in purity and polarisation, but that's a topic for another day. Anyway, they're connected to your emotions and arguably your soul."

Verde the scientist scoffs.

"I'm trying, okay?" Aria snaps at him. She turns back to an increasingly confused Harry. "The scar on your forehead contains a quantity of Flames. Or, as some would say, it contains a shard of soul from the one who gave it to you."

Harry rubs at her forehead and wishes Hayato was here. This stuff is a bit hard to understand. Magic, she sort of gets. This Flame stuff just seems complicated. She's pretty sure she's already forgotten at least two of the Flame types.

Aria sighs. "At the moment, the Flame fragment in your scar isn't dangerous. But in the future, it will be."

"...so can we get it out?" Harry asks after a couple of seconds.

" _We_ can't," Mr. Verde speaks up. " _I,_ however, can."

"Really? How?" Harry asks. Mr. Verde takes a deep breath to explain, but Aria cuts in.

"We can discuss that later," she says. "The problem is, there will be side-effects for you."

Harry tilts her head. "Like what?"

Aria shakes her head. "Among all the Dying Will Flames, the Flame of Sky holds a special place. A Sky can reach out to any other element and form a Guardian bond with them. The process is called Harmonisation."

Mr. Verde continues for her. "Basically, Skies strive to bond a complete set of Guardians. And non-Skies always long for Harmonisation with a Sky."

"Why?" Harry asks in confusion. "What's so great about Harmonisating?"

"Harmonising," Aria corrects. "It makes you feel complete. Like coming home after a long day. It's the most wonderful feeling in the world." Mr. Verde nods in agreememt.

"Okay..." Harry mumbles. "If you say so... but what's that got to do with me?"

Aria's eyes are soft and gentle and so, so, sad. "Harry," she says. "You are a Sky. But the operation to take out the Flames in your scar. It'll break your Sky Flame in pieces. You won't be able to have Guardians of your own, ever, and you won't even be a Sky anymore."

"Oh," Harry says. "Okay."

"I'm sorry," Aria murmurs.

Harry... doesn't know what to say. There's a bit of sadness, a sense of loss for something she had never had in the first place. Other than that... she is happy to find she has family. And Famiglia. That is nice. And the UMAs couldn't get her anymore, that was pretty good, too. And she'd get to stay with Hayato. But Aria was acting like she should be sad, and even Mr. Verde seemed somber.

Harry feels tired all of a sudden.

"Can I go talk to Shamal and Hayato?" Harry asks.

"Of course, dear," Aria answers. "Of course."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **027 - Distraught**

Harry steps out of the office in a daze. Shamal and Hayato are waiting for her.

"Harry!" Hayato jumps up and hurries toward her. "You alright?" He grabs her shoulders. "Hey! Harry!"

"I don't know," she whispers and buries her face in his shoulder. "I don't know."

"Did they say yes? What did they want!" Hayato asks frantically. Harry is only dimly aware that Shamal has gone into the office.

"Yeah. Turns out I'm distantly related to Miss Aria. Guess I'm Giglio Nero now," Harry mumbles into Hayato's shoulder. "Get me out of here."

"Y-yeah. Okay." Hayato scoops her up like she weighs nothing. It's always like this when he ends up having to carry her. Like her body wants to make carrying her easy for Hayato. Must be a magic thing. Harry doesn't know. She isn't that smart.

Hayato carries her out into the garden. He finds them a secluded spot where he sits down, leaning against a willow, letting her sit curled up against his chest. He doesn't say anything. Harry appreciates that. Hayato knows her well enough to know that sometimes, she just needs his presence and not his words.

"...I didn't know I had living family," she finally says into his shoulder. "Aria is nice. She says it's okay if I stay traveling around with you."

Hayato rubs her shoulders gently.

"I was happy with just us," Harry whispers. "Never thought I'd ever actually join a Famiglia."

"Not this soon," Hayato agrees.

"Aria said you can't join. She said your place is somewhere else." Hayato stiffens for a moment.

"But we can still be together," he states.

"Yeah."

"Okay," he says.

"There's something else." Harry sniffs. "There's some bad stuff in my scar. They have to take it out before it hurts me. But it'll hurt me when they take it out. It'll make it so I can't be a Sky anymore." Harry shifts a bit closer into him. "I don't even know what that is. But I think I might have liked to be one. Someday. It's supposed to feel really nice to have Guardians." She sniffs a little.

Hayato pulls her into a full-on hug. "Hey," he says. "You've still got me."

"Love you, 'yato," she sniffs. She feels him stiffen. Then his arms tighten around her.

He doesn't say it back, but Harry knows anyway.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **030 - It's wrong**

Shamal listens while Aria calmly explains what will happen to Harry and Verde's role in it.

His fists clench.

"You can't do that," he grits out. "You're talking about not only taking out that Flame shard in her forehead, but irrevocably changing her Flame! She's just a kid!"

"And what happens when she isn't a child any longer?" Verde speaks up. "You of all people shouldn't be so naive. Age doesn't matter in the Mafia."

Shamal grits his teeth. "She'll never forgive you if she finds out that you could have left her Flames intact."

Aria closes her eyes. "You underestemate her capacity for forgiveness. But she never _has_ to find out."

"There has to be another way."

"Do you think I haven't tried to think of something? The only other way is if she joins the Wizarding World and dies by the hand of the one the Flame shard belongs to." Aria sighs deeply. "If she were given the choice, she'd choose the same thing I did. I am sparing her the unhappiness and the what-ifs."

"It's wrong!"

"Yes," Aria says. "But I've seen the future that comes to pass if this isn't done. The Guardians she would have had... are needed elsewhere."

"Where's your proof?!" Shamal demands. "Some things surprise even the Sky Arcobaleno! There has to be something you didn't think of!"

" _You_ are my proof," Aria says. "Look at you. You're a hardened hitman of thirty years. You've never bonded with any Sky, and we both know that there have been enough tries to poach you into a Famiglia. And yet, you're already forming a Bond with Harry. Hayato hasn't even awakened his Flames and there's already a fledgling bond in place."

Shamal glares at her, unable to refute her.

"Doctor Shamal, I know this is hard. But if we don't do this, she and her would-be Guardians would die in but a few years. So will a great many other people, you and Hayato included," Aria says. "Sometimes, to save someone, you have to hurt them. Even if it means that a Sky is broken to pieces."

"It's wrong," Shamal repeats, and hates the defeat resounding in his voice.

"I know. But there is no other choice." Aria sighs deeply. "For what it's worth... I have seen a future where she's happy despite... everything."

"And I hope for you that it comes to pass," Shamal growls out.

Aria's look is sad. "Then so be it. Verde will perform the operation tomorrow."

"She would really die if this isn't done?" he asks.

"She wouldn't make it to age twelve. As a powerful, independent Sky, she'd attract too much attention, and the wizards do have their spies in our world. They find her, forcibly break her bonds and erase her memories and that of her Guardians. She spends a year in school pushing people away and fighting enemies in her head, miserable and lonely, and she never sees the murderer of her parents coming. She dies alone because she doesn't see a reason to defend herself and stay alive." Aria pauses and closes her eyes in anguish. "Her Guardians die one by one, jumping into battles they have no hope of winning, and they aren't there when the battles that eventually decide the future of the Mafia are fought, and the wrong sides win. The world as we know it comes to an end, and war breaks out that cannot be contained to the Mafia world even by the Vindice." Aria opens her eyes again. "And by then, the world of wizards will have fallen to Voldemort, and once he learns of the Mafia, there won't ever be a chance at peace."

"She might die anyway," Shamal says bitterly. "No matter your machinations."

"Yes. But even if she doesn't have the Flames of Sky, she'll be a Sky at heart and soul, and she'll still be able to form bonds, even if they won't be Guardian Bonds." Aria fixes him with a serious look. "She will need you. Therefore, I'm hiring you to be her teacher for a year."

"Tch," Shamal scoffs. "I'd have taught her anyway."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **031 - Hayato and Shamal**

Shamal eventually sits down opposite them. Harry has long since fallen asleep on Hayato. Tear tracks are still on her cheeks.

"You're disturbing," Hayato tersely informs his former mentor.

Shamal looks at the girl in Hayato's arms with sad eyes.

"Don't pity her," Hayato growls out. "She hates that."

"She told you what's going to happen to her?" Shamal asks. Hayato glares as the man pulls out a bottle and takes a deep swig.

"Not in detail," Hayato snaps out. "She said she doesn't even really get it."

"No, I suppose she wouldn't," Shamal muses. "She's still very young. She's got an old soul, though. Bit of a weirdo, actually, the little lady."

Hayato growls in annoyance. "What the hell do you want, Shamal?!"

Shamal fixes him with a look. "I'm going to tell you about Dying Will Flames. I'm going to tell you about how the operation will affect her, because _you_ will understand. And then you're going to tell me about her."

"Why the hell would I do that?" Hayato growls out.

"Because I was just hired to be Harietta Giglio Nero's teacher for the next year, and it'll be better for all of us if I know what I should avoid if I don't want to accidentally make her cry." Shamal gives Hayato a pointed look. "Now shut up and let me talk."

Hayato shuts up and listens.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **032 - The aftermath**

After the operation, Harry is sullen and withdrawn. Hayato is glad Shamal warned him about that. He worries anyway.

Harry, usually full of life and laughter, now stays silent for hours on end and only responds to direct questions with short answers. And where she used to always move around and hated being cooped up, she now stays inside unless Hayato drags her out, which admittedly isn't that hard. She clings to him like a source of warmth in winter.

It isn't that she's hurt or in pain. She just seems to be confused and sad about something she doesn't quite understand. The clearest answer Hayato gets out of her is that she knows she lost something, but she doesn't know what, she just knows something is _missing_.

When she finds out she can no longer talk to snakes, she has a near breakdown.

Eventually, she gets better, closer to her old self, but there are instances where she stares off into space with a sad, lost expression, and Hayato does everything he can to distract her when that happens.

They may not have a Guardian bond, but they _do_ have a connection. Shamal even said that sometimes Flame bonds develop between non-Skies; sometimes so much so that one person can be a Replacement Sky. Hayato thinks it's bullshit. Harry and he don't _need_ some special Flame bond. They're fine as they are.

Shamal takes them to Mafia Land. Harry and Hayato had always wanted to come here, but now the wonder is overshadowed by her condition. She is in no mood to go exploring or anything, and Shamal has warned them against recklessly strolling around in Mafia Land. It's _supposed_ to be neutral ground, but only on paper. Fights break out all the time, deals are made under the table, and Hayato has no pretection from any Famiglia.

Two months into their stay, Harry is mostly back to normal, though she seems a lot more thoughtful and calmer than before. And Shamal announces that he has jobs lined up outside Mafia Land, and since he's been hired to teach Harry, she needs to come with him. And he can't take care of two kids.

Which means they have to separate.

There are many curses said in reaction to that announcement, and not just by Hayato. Tears fall, too.

In the end, Shamal snaps at them that it's either separation for the rest of the year, or risk Harry being unprepared for and getting taken by the wizards forever, because yes, the wizards have their ways of making people bend to their wills.

There really isn't any choice but to agree.

Shamal and Harry leave the very next day and leave Hayato behind in Mafia Land .

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

* * *

 **A/N: So yeah. Harry gets a Family and rid of the horcrux, but also gets screwed over for the Mafia version of the greater good in the process. But hey, she doesn't have to die! Anyway, it _is_ the Mafia, it can't all be happy.  
**

 **Don't worry, next chapter will be happier, I promise. Voi.**

 **Just a quick note for all those wanting to see Xanxus. He's currently a very unhappy Xanxicle, sorry 'bout that.**

 **I know some people have been wondering at the recent lack of updates, I'm currently extremely busy with my real life. I'm sort of drowning in homework, I've got a presentation next week, and I've got to prepare for my bachelor's. Sorry to say this, but you can expect delays for all my updates. *sob*  
**

 **Just know, all your support makes me really happy and motivates me to work hard. You guys rock.**


	7. 033 - 037

**033 - One year later**

Alarms blare over Mafia Land.

Hayato, in the middle of inspecting his gear, curses loudly, his cigarette nearly falling out of his mouth. "You gotta be shitting me!" he mutters angrily, shoving dynamites, explosives, and smoke bombs into various pockets and spaces on his body. "A fucking invasion, _again_?!"

He makes sure he's got his cigarette pack on him. They're a special brand, smoke- and scentless. Harry sent them to him, they're even Shamal-approved, which means they won't give Hayato cancer. They're hell of useful for lighting dynamites.

Hayato is ready and out of his small administration-issued one-room apartment in under a minute. He shoves his com-unit consisting of an earphone and a small mic on his head. Orders blare into his ear. "Squad 12, to the port! Destroy the ships, kora! 18, get to Museum's District. Squads 8, 9, 10, get the hell on with the evacuation!"

Hayato listens with half an ear while he runs to his position. "Specialists, report in!" the voice in the earphone yells.

"Spyder, present!"

"Mortis, present!

"Smokin' Bomb, here!" Hayato barks.

More responses follow.

"Protect the hospital, kora!"

Hayato pulls on his goggles and changes his course. As part of Mafia Land's security team, he's been drilled over and over to know where his position is. Plus, there's the one-on-one training he got from Commander Colonello.

The back of the hospital is crawling with enemies. The doors had been barricaded and fortified, so they can't get in, but ladders, siege towers, and battering rams have been brought by the attackers - Hayato recognises the crest of the Pesca Famiglia, and another two Family crests he doesn't know. Hospital security are firing at the attackers, though sooner or later they will be overrun.

But that's what Hayato is here for. Well, him and the other specialists.

Hayato throws his dynamite with deadly precision. A ladder collapses, people fall off screaming. He fires his grappling hook gun, and moments later he's swinging directly at one of the siege towers. He throws a blue grenade inside, then hastily swings into the next tower.

Rinse, repeat. Behind him, the towers are filled with blue gas, the people inside drop like flies, snoring peacefully. Five minutes later Hayato's job is done, there are no more siege towers. Spyder did his job as well, there are no more people scrambling up ladders and walls. However, Mortis hasn't taken care of the battering rams yet. And he isn't answering on the mic. Shit, the idiot must've been taken out.

One of the hospital doors looks like it's going to collapse in moments. And it isn't the only one.

Hayato curses and quickly calculates his options. If he gets down there, he'll die, it's swarming with enemies. He doesn't have enough dynamite left to take care of all of them. Maybe if he joins forces with the hospital security... they might hold out long enough for Commander Colonello to get here and that would be the end of the problem.

And then the men start dropping like flies. Hayato blinks.

"Hi Hayato!" a familiar voice greets behind/above him.

He whirls around.

There, with a familiar grin, sits Harry on a windowsill. She reaches out a finger and a light blue-glowing Trident Mosquito lands on it.

"Harry!" he exclaims. She laughs happily and waves to him.

"I'm back!"

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **034 - Reunited**

The siege of the Mafia Land hospital ends pretty quickly after that. Harry's blue mosquitoes ("They carry Rain Flames, and I control them with Mist, I've got _so_ much to tell you, Hayato!") tranquilise them before the attackers are even aware of the danger. Shamal is apparently there too, a number of men suddenly break out into coughs, sprout boils, or just fall over for no apparent reason.

"Yuck." Harry scrunches up her face. "I'm so glad I didn't go for the disease thing." She grins at him. "So you're part of Mafia Land security? That's so cool!"

Hayato grins at her proudly. "Commander Colonello saw me deal with a bunch of drunk Beccio members and took me under his wing. You ain't the only one who got training!"

Harry laughs. "I'm so happy to see you! I missed you so much!"

Hayato missed Harry too. If she weren't sitting on a windowsill way out of his reach, he'd have hugged her already.

"Specialists! Status report!" Commander Colonello barks into his ear. Loudly. Hayato winces.

"Smokin' Bomb here!" he answers. "Situation resolved. Hospital is secure. Trident Shamal and Thieving Magpie helped."

He smirks up at Harry. She grins back, practically radiating joy.

Letters and phonecalls were nowhere near as good as actually seeing her.

"Never heard of a magpie, kora," Colonello answers. "Anyway, stay where you are. We should have this wrapped up in an hour."

"Yes, sir!" Hayato salutes, and immediately feels stupid because Colonello isn't here to see it. Sure enough, Harry is shaking with laughter.

"First one on the roof is winner!" she suddenly says, and then immediately disappears.

"Cheater!" Hayato yells, before using his grappling hook gun to swing up.

Harry wins anyway, of course. The moment Hayato steps up on the roof, he's tackled in her hug. "Missed you so so so much!" she mumbles into his ear.

He pulls her closer. "Missed you too."

She pulls back and looks him over. "Whoa, you look so cool in that uniform."

He does, if he may say so himself. Mafia Land only has top of the line equipment for their employees.

Harry on the other hand... "What's with the labcoat?" he asks.

She groans. "Shamal is an asshole."

"Ah." That explains it.

"I'm going to burn it right in front of him," she mutters viciously.

Other than the labcoat, Harry looks really good. She's grown some, and she isn't so spindly anymore. The mischievous sparkle is back in her eyes. She looks... Well, she looks happy.

And the scar on her head is gone. When she notices Hayato staring, she explains that she 'caked it over with Mist Flames'.

They spend the following hour until the sirens announce the end of the invasion catching up. Hayato tells her about his hellish training with Colonello, Harry tells him about annoying lessons with Shamal, and how annoying her teacher can be. Hayato can sympathise - he was once Shamal's student, too.

Eventually, Colonello shows up, carried by his animal partner Falco. He takes a look around and nods. "Good work, Gokudera, kora," he says. "And who's this?"

"Hi," Harry chirps. "I'm Harry Giglio Nero, Hayato's my best friend! It's nice to meet you, Mr. Colonello! Your falcon is awesome!"

"She's my partner," Hayato says. "The Thieving Magpie. Also, since she's back, I'd like to hand in my resignation."

Colonello aims his rifle at Hayato. "You think you can just quit, kora?!" he demands. Hayato freezes in horror. Oh shit, what's he gonna do?!

Then the Arcobaleno laughs obnoxiously. "You shoulda seen your face!" And he falls asleep, a bubble coming out of his noses.

Hayato curses under his breath.

Harry laughs. "He seems nice! So we're going back to being partners?"

He shoots her a grin. "Unless you have other plans?"

"Nope!" Her features soften. "Never."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **035 - Chances come a-knocking**

Mafia Land, other than being a vacation resort for stressed Mafia members, holds a great many job opportunities. Bars have pinboards full with Wanted posters, mission descriptions, and job offers. There's the Assassin's guild, Hitman Hall, and Thieves' Corner, where the respective people can get various job offers relayed to them. Not only that, Mafia Land is crawling with information brokers, so the rumour mill is seriously fast.

If one plays their cards right, gaining fame in the Mafia world is easiest done from Mafia Land.

Harry and Hayato very much want to become famous. Harry because the better known she is as a capable Mafia member, the harder it'll be to pry her away from this world where she is free. Hayato because it's his dream to join a Family and become a right-hand man.

They pretty much fall back into the routine they'd had before Shamal had shown up. Decide on a job, convince the client that they were the right people for the job - not easy to do what with Harry being ten and Hayato only a year older, but they _did_ come recommended by Shamal, Colonello, and the Giglio Nero - travel to wherever, do the job, and return upon completion for a few day's rest and then pick up another job.

It's pretty much like it was in Bologna and Naples. Harry and Hayato take turns picking jobs. Harry usually goes for challenging heists, while Hayato picks sabotage jobs that involve blowing shit up in an intelligent way. Surprisingly, there are quite a lot of those.

If they were a good team before, now they are _really_ good. Neither of them is a particularly strong fighter, but Hayato is a genius when it comes to numbers and physics, while Harry is scarily creative and has no respect whatsoever for the word 'impossible'. Add to that the fact that Hayato has received training from one of the Arcobaleno and has years of experience with explosives, while Harry learned to control mosquitoes and Flames from Shamal... well. They build up a reputation pretty damn fast. _100%_ _success rate_.

It's not like that's anything special or even unusual. They aren't the only ones in Mafia Land with a success rate that high. Failure in the Mafia more often than not results in fatalities, so people without a good success rate are somewhat rare to find because they tend to be dead.

However, Hayato and Harry are new and young and that makes them interesting.

It probably shouldn't have surprised them _that_ much when they get a job from the Vongola.

Hayato makes a garbled noise when a messenger presses the official looking letter with the Vongola crest into his hand and runs away.

"Well, that was random," Harry remarks.

"Awawawawah," Hayato makes, staring at the Vongola crest.

Harry takes the letter and opens it. "They're contracting us for a job, no information on that mentioned here. There's a jet waiting for us at the airport right now." She looks up. "We going?"

Of course they do. There's going into a potentially dangerous job without any prior information or warning. Then there's saying no to the Vongola. It's kind of obvious which one the more dangerous is.

Besides, Harry is curious. And Hayato, once he gets over his shock, is overjoyed that _they've gotten the Vongola interested in them_!

Hayato being overjoyed is synonymous with him running round the appartment, jumping on Shamal's table and couch and talking a mile a minute. In between, he slams his head into available surfaces and moans about gloom and doom. Harry eventually uses a Rain Mosquito to calm him down.

"Come on, 'yato!" she says cheerfully, though there is some tightness around her eyes that belies her own nervosity. "I'm sure it'll be fun!" A mischievous grin lights up her features. "It'll be the bomb!"

Hayato groans.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **036 - The Vongola Incident: First meeting**

There's people waiting in the jet. One is the terrifying baby with the Fedora. Another is a man with long pale hair and a sword. The last is a flamboyant man with sunglasses, green bangs and otherwise brown hair, and a large orange feather boa.

The situation descends into chaos almost immediately.

"The hell! Who invited two trashy brats?!" Long-hair yells. "We ain't needing worthless scum!"

Harry doesn't do well with being yelled at. Hayato sees the shutters go down over her eyes, the mask painted on her features.

He draws his dynamite. "I'm going to-"

"Hi I'm Harry!" Harry chirps."What's your name? Your hair is pretty!"

Reborn watches with gleaming eyes. Hayato senses the disaster in the making.

"You little piece of shit!" Long-hair shouts.

"That's your name?" Harry asks innocently. "So your last name is 'Of Shit?' Are you a noble or something? That's so awesome, You Little Piece!"

Long-hair screams incoherently. Hayato lights his dynamite. Harry quickly snatches them from his hands and puts the fuses out. "C'mon, he's nice!" she says. Her eyes are dancing with unhinged mirth that immediately sends shivers down Hayato's back.

Harry is sane for the most part. But there are days when she's a ticking time bomb.

"You fucking bitch of a mmph!"

The colourful one holds his mouth shut. "Squ-chan! Language! There are children present!"

Harry gasps. "Wow, your hair is even prettier!"

"Aww!" The man squeals, and then insanely fast snatches Harry up. "Aren't you adorable! Such a cutie! I'm Lussuria, sweetie, you can call me _sorella_!"

Oh God. Hayato's dread makes way for horror as Harry hugs Lussuria. "Okay, _sorella_!" she chirps.

"Aww! Squ, I'm going to keep her!"

"SET HER DOWN I'M GOING TO KILL THAT FUCKING BRAT-"

"Now, sweetie, don't listen to him, he doesn't mean it-"

Hayato hides his face in his hands. He loves Harry, he does. But sometimes, he really wants to kill her.

A weight lands on his shoulder. "I like her," Reborn says.

Hayato screams into his hands.

"Oh I know he doesn't mean it!" Harry continues digging hers and Hayato's grave. "He's really nice!"

"THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU YOU SHITTY LITTLE BITCH-"

"See? A nickname just for me! We're great friends already!" Harry waves cheerfully at the raging man.

"Harry, he's insulting you," Hayato informs her. She gasps.

"No way!" She shakes her head, but her eyes dance with mirth. "He's being nice! People yell a lot when they like each other!"

"How the hell did you get that idea!" Hayato explodes.

Harry tilts her head. "My uncle," she says with her sweet smile that tells Hayato that she's about to seriously screw with everyone. "He always called me an ungrateful little freak, and he yelled a lot, too. It's how he showed concern for my future, you see? He even turned the cupboard under the stairs into a prison cell, just for me so I'd know what my future would be like! And my aunt fondly told me all the time what a useless waste of a girl I am... she taught me cooking at age four to correct that, and she demonstrated to me how dangerous frying pans can be. And Dudley played with me all the time, we played Harry-hunting a lot, it was really fun!" Her smile widens. "They _really_ loved me to pieces."

Long-hair has stopped screaming, now his mouth opens and closes like a fish's. Reborn is frowning. Lussuria's eyes are filled with tears. "Oh _sweetie_!" he cries, crushing Harry to his chest. She pats his back amiably. But her smile is somewhat brittle as she looks at Hayato. _Help me I don't know what I'm doing but I can't stop help me I'm drowning,_ her eyes seem to say.

Hayato thinks he's going to throw up.

They should have turned the Vongola down.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **037 - The Vongola Incident: The Storm Guardian**

Neither Hayato nor Harry are particularly happy people. Harry knows it. Hayato knows it. They act happy most of the time, and it's easy to forget the unhappy when they are together, because they love each other so much.

Hayato knows Harry.

He knows she is kinder than anyone. She gave him bread when she was hungry herself, and she didn't even know him, and had never received any kindness herself, yet she gave it freely.

He knows the she lies all the time. She says she's okay when she's not, she says she isn't hungry when she is, she smiles when she's sad, she says she doesn't hurt when Hayato can see pain clearly in her eyes.

Hayato knows that something broke inside her when they took out the Flames in her scar. He doesn't quite know _what_ , but he knows she lost _something_ that day. She's still the same kind, selfless, amazing person. But there is now a part in her that is brittle and cold, and it makes her act destructively sometimes. Self-destructively in most cases. Sometimes destructive towards others. Sometimes both at once.

Hayato knows her well enough to know when to leave her alone. There are days she's a ticking time bomb. This is one of them. Unfortunately, there's no chance of that _here_.

"Hayato?" Harry asks. "You alright?" She managed to extract herself from Lussuria's hug.

"Fine," he says. He'd have said more, but Reborn still sits on his shoulder, watching Harry who now just stands there, a disturbingly empty smile on her face.

This was a bad idea, and Hayato has no chance of getting them out of this, not when they're already in the jet and under this much scrutiny. And with Harry like this, he won't have much luck getting her to do anything.

"I'm Reborn, the World's Greatest Hitman," Reborn suddenly announces.

Harry tilts her head and turns that empty smile on him. "I know. We met before. Nice to meet you. I'm Harry." Her words are stilted, the sentences short.

Further introductions are cut off as an imposing man enters the jet. And he's _old_. Not ancient, but old enough to raise eyebrows in the world of the Mafia. The man wears a tailored suit that screams _expensive_ and _Mafia_ and _Vongola_. He sports a mustache and longish hair. His left arm is missing, instead there's a steel prothesis. Hayato sends a quick prayer to whatever deity might listen that Harry won't say something stupid like, 'Your arm is cool, where'd you get it?'.

The man surveys them with a severe expression. Hayato straightens, swallowing nervously. Harry just continues to smile, but Hayato is relieved when he notices her shift closer to him - at last, a sane response.

"Good day," the man says. Behind him, the entrance to the jet slams shut. "I see we are all assembled. Very well.

"To those of you who don't know me, I am Coyote Nougat, Storm Guardian of Vongola Nono."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے


	8. 038 - 041

**038 - The Vongola Incident: Introductions**

No one answers Coyote Nougat's bold statement. Long-hair glares at him, Lussuria is somewhat expressionless. Reborn's eyes are back to gleaming with unholy light. Harry watches with her head slightly tilted, as if she's watching an interesting show on tv. Hayato does his best to look aloof and cool and not as nervous as he feels.

Vongola Storm Guardian.

Right-hand Man.

Coyote Nougat is the kind of man Hayato aspires to be. He is a man Hayato _needs_ ot impress.

"Time is of the essence," Nougat says. "I will debrief you once the jet has taken off." Without saying anything further, he disappears into the cockpit. Hayato decides that if the jet is about to start, he'd rather be sitting, and pulls Harry over to a seat.

Reborn hops off of Hayato's shoulder and makes his way after Nougat.

"You wanna get out of here?" Hayato mumurs to Harry. "We haven't started yet."

She shakes her head. "I'm sorry about earlier."

"Not your fault."

"Yeah, it kind of was." She sighs. "I just- went blank when he yelled and called us worthless and stuff. For a moment, I saw... my uncle..." her voice trails off.

"Hey," Hayato says. "It's okay. It's called a flashback. Focus on me if it happens again. I've got you."

She nods hesitantly and leans against him.

The jet roars to life under them. A minute later, they're in the air.

"Can you do this?" Hayato asks quietly into her ear.

She grabs his hand and squeezes it. "I'm good now. I think."

"Okay."

Once the jet is stable in the air, Hayato gets up from his seat. Harry shifts to sit on the seat's armrest, looking as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth in her light blue jacket, floral print skirt, and ballet flats. Her red hair falls in ringlets to her waist.

Hayato knows for a fact that her clothing is merely an illusion, a construct built by her Mist Flame carrying mosquitoes. In reality, she's wearing jeans, combat boots, and a leather jacket, much like Hayato. And her hair isn't actually that long. Harry is good at misdirection.

Underestimation is a weapon, too, she'd told him. Hayato is pretty sure that she doesn't exactly need to be underestimated, she's dangerous enough on her own. Her mosquitoes can carry Rain, Mist, and Sun Flames. Most people could easily be taken down with those, and for the remaining ones, she has Hayato.

Hayato hates that he's forbidden to use Flames so far. _Too dangerous_ , Shamal had said, and Harry had made Hayato promise not to experiment. Apparently, it was dangerous that she awakened hers as early as she did, at age nine. And then they turned out to be so strong that it would have been even more dangerous had she _not_ continued to use them.

Anyway, Hayato can't help her with Flames yet. But he _can_ learn about them.

Coyote Nougat reenters the room, Reborn walking next to him. The Vongola Storm's presence easily commands the room and shuts down any conversations.

"Reborn tells me your introductions were interrupted, so for simplicity's sake, I will introduce you all," he says, a disapproving frown on his face. He looks at Long-hair. "Superbi Squalo, vice-leader of the Varia. Lussuria, leader of the Varia's Sun squad."

 _Oh shit._ Hayato resists the urge to kneel and beg for forgiveness. They'd pissed off the bloody _Varia_! They were going to _die_!

"Smoking Bomb Hayato, former student of Trident Shamal and the Arcobaleno Colonello; and the Thieving Magpie, Harrietta Giglio Nero, also a student of Trident Shamal and a member of the Giglio Nero Famiglia. I believe all of you are familiar with Reborn," Nougat finishes.

"That perverted doctor has _students_?!" the newly named Squalo explodes.

Harry tilts her head. "What's perverted mean?" she asks innocently.

All the men in the room suddenly look uncomfortable, safe for Lussuria. "Well, sweetie, you see, when a man-"

"This is not the time," Nougat cuts in sternly. He fixes Harry with a look, which she returns with Cutely-Confused Look #3. Hayato had caught her practicing in front of a mirror once. If Nougat stares at her much longer, she'll up the ante to #4.

"I feel a kindred spirit," Reborn announces, making everyone in the room look at him.

"Just tell us why the fuck we're here!" Squalo demands irritably.

"Very well," Nougat says. "You are here because you were the only individuals who could be rounded up on short notice that possessed the necessary skills."

Hayato straightens. So it really is true, they had gotten noticed by the Vongola. The question is, do they want them for his skills, or for Harry's?

"Ten hours ago, the Corvi Famiglia declared war against the Vongola, as most of you will be aware." Nougat fixes Hayato and Harry with a look, making it clear that _they_ are the outsiders in this group. Hayato swallows. Getting caught up in a Mafia war is _not_ what he expected when he woke up this morning. "They stand no chance, of course. However, they have taken Vongola Nono's son Federico hostage. At this moment, Nono is headed there with my fellow Guardians to negotiate for his release. However, we know from a reliable source that the Corvi do not intend to let Federico walk away alive. Therefore, our mission is to retrieve Federico while the negotiations take place."

"So what're the brats here for?" Squalo demands, and a part of Hayato notes that this is the first sentence he's said in which there's no swearword at all.

"We're supposed to get you guys into the Corvi house, right?" Harry speaks up.

"Your successes in burglary have been noticed, _Signorina_ Giglio Nero," Nougat says stiffly in a manner that indicates clearly that they were _last resort_. Suits Hayato just fine, they'll just prove him _wrong_.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **039 - The Vongola Incident: Begin Assault**

The group splits up. Group One consists of Squalo, Lussuria-sorella, and Reborn. Group Two is Harry, Hayato, and Mr. Nougat.

Harry likes his name. She'd like to be named after a sweet, too. It'd be great if Mr. Nougat would actually _be_ sweet, but you can't have everything in life.

Anyway, Group One is apparently going to break into the mansion from the east side and kill people, while Harry's group is going to break in from the west side to find Mr. Federico.

Harry has no idea how the other group with the loud Superbi 'You-Little-Piece-Of-Shit' Squalo is going to sneak anywhere unnoticed. Sorella is pretty okay, but kind of too pretty not to be noticed. Reborn the Terrifying Baby though could make it.

Maybe Harry's being a bit unfair. They _are_ assassins. Assassins are supposed to be sneaky. So maybe Squalo and Sorella are just pretending to be un-sneaky?

And besides, if all six of them moved in a big group, they'd _definitely_ get caught.

The Corvi stronghold is in the middle of nowhere. It's more of a fortress, and miles and miles around, there's only flat land. There are some corn fields which they can use to hide in while approaching, but well... cornfields are creepy in Harry's opinion.

All in all, it would be pretty much impossible to sneak up on and into the Corvi stronghold. Unless one has Mist Flames, which Harry does.

Harry has a lot of Mist Flames. It's her dominant Flame aspect, actually. Followed by Rain. After that comes Sun. Mr. Verde had told her that she's got all the other Flames, too, since Sky Flames are made up from all other Flames meshed together or something, so when hers was broken, the other Flames should have been left afterwards, but she hasn't figured out how to use them all yet, and they might not even be strong enough to be useful anyway. Or they might manifest passively, whatever that means.

The three of them wait in a cornfield until 3 pm, which is when they decided both groups should begin their respective operations. Hayato and Mr. Nougat use the waiting time to watch the stronghold with binoculars and figure out the least guarded places and stuff. Harry meanwhile recharges all her Flame Mosquitoes. Not that her companions would know, her Mist Mosquitoes are currently either invisible or disguising her outfit. The Rain Mosquitoes are sleeping in her jacket and hair, lazy little gnats that they are.

She has Sun Mosquitoes, too. Those are special, though. Mr. Verde had given her specially bred mosquitoes that could carry more Flames, because Sun Flames need a certain amount to be effective. And since Sun is her currently least dominant Flame, it takes her ages to charge even one Sun Mosquito. Harry keeps them in special capsules stashed in her jacket.

"Harry," Hayato says. "It's time."

She nods, and centers herself, like Shamal taught her. Lifts her fingers.

Dozens of Mist Mosquitoes around her turn visible. Another dozen fly off her body, the illusion of cutesy-girl clothes finally released and showing her boots, jeans, and leather jacket. (Shamal had recommended labcoats for concealing mosquitoes, but _hell no_. Why would she need to conceal them if she can just make them invisible?)

"Formation: Stealth Sphere!" Harry orders her Mist Mosquitoes, and the swarm obeys. They fly around them and erase their sight and sound from the world. Harry grins proudly. "Let's roll!" she says. Then she pauses. "Err, Hayato?"

Hayato rolls his eyes in exasperation. "Just follow. We found a potential hole in their security. Not," he casts a look at her Mist Mosquito swarm. "That they would see us coming anyway."

Mr. Nougat stays quiet, but Harry can feel the weight of his stare as they walk towards the Corvi stronghold.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **038 - The Vongola Incident: Breaking and Entering**

They move quickly. Hayato sets a quick pace, because he knows that a Stealth Sphere of the size Harry is currently using will definitely draw on her Flames.

Shamal told him that she has a lot of Flames, much more than average, but even those would run out at some point.

Coyote Nougat follows along silently. Earlier, he and Hayato surveyed the mansion for weak points, and Vongola's Storm saw _so many_ things, it was humbling for Hayato. He still has a long way to go.

Hayato just hopes he still made a good impression.

Eventually, they stop in front of the walls surrounding the Corvi Stronghold. Harry looks up the high wall, a calculating look on her face. "Okay, Mr. Nougat, how good are you at scaling walls? 'Cuz we can go through the wall, too. We don't actually have to climb. It'd be safer though, 'cuz we don't know what's behind the wall and dynamite isn't exactly subtle."

...manners. Hayato needs to teach her manners one of these days. Mafia Etiquette is important.

Coyote Nougat gives her a _look_ that somehow conveys disapproval, reproach, and criticism all at once, making Hayato bristle. The _look_ is completely wasted on Harry, though. She never was good at reading the mood. Scratch that, she's completely clueless.

Instead of answering, Nougat points up, and a small grappling hook shoots from his metal arm.

"Whoa, awesome!" Harry exclaims, beaming at Nougat with admiration. He raises an eyebrow at her.

Hayato wraps an arm around her before she can say anything more, and fires his grappling hook gun. The next instant, he and Nougat are going up, Harry clinging to Hayato.

"I coulda climbed that, though," she says to Hayato with an amused grin, as if to say, _you poor people who need grappling hooks to climb walls, you are so cute._

"Yeah, but you've got an illusion to maintain," Hayato counters. He casts a look around. There are manned guard posts in regular distances on the wall, but nobody seems to have noticed them.

On the other side of the wall is a large lawn area, and beyond that looms a medieval looking castle. Harry's eyes are calculating as she looks at it. Where Hayato sees walls, ridges, and doors, Harry sees possibilities, opportunities, and challenges. Hayato is pretty sure that she could get into that castle in seconds, however she has Hayato and Nougat to think about, too.

"Hmm..." she muses, scratching her head.

"Harry?" Hayato asks. "How are we getting in? The windows? The second floor balcony?"

He isn't the best of burglars, but he _has_ picked up some stuff from her. Through osmosis, she'd joked. _She_ had picked up things from him, too. Hayato isn't quite sure what her brain makes of those, though. He'd be the first to admit that Harry's mind doesn't exactly work normally.

Case in point...

"We're going in through the front door," Harry declares, nodding sagely. "Yup!"

Hayato doesn't dare meet Coyote Nougat's incredulous, _is she actually fucking serious_ look when he nods along.

It's not like Harry has ever led him wrong before, after all.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **041 - The Vongola Incident: Coyote Nougat**

The two children baffle him. Coyote Nougat has to admit, he had been doubtful when Reborn recommended them over all the other available burglars and thieves residing in Mafia Land at the time. Age doesn't matter in the Mafia; but experience does and children in general naturally have less of that than adults. Coyote had only agreed to hiring them when he heard of who their teachers were. Trident Shamal is well-respected in the world of Mafia, had in fact been offered membership in the Vongola, even a place as a Guardian of the late Massimo, though he had rejected the offers and attempts to bond him. And Colonello as the Rain Arcobaleno isn't just well-respected, he is one of the Strongest Seven. To be trained by him personally spoke of great potential.

These two, though, are not quite what he expected.

The boy, highly intelligent and observant. Ambitious as well, with an inherent desire to be acknowledged. And a Storm, like Coyote himself. One who manages to keep his furious temper under control, which is thanks to the girl. Harietta of the Giglio Nero Famiglia, also known as the Thieving Magpie. A young thief of considerable skill, if Reborn is to be believed. It says something about that she actually raised Reborn's interest enough to have him looking in on her abilities.

So far, Harietta is the most atypical thief Coyote Nougat has ever met. For one, she seems selfless and unambitious in a way thieves are not supposed to be. For another, she's a Mist who works with a Storm in an entirely unmanipulative way, without the influence of a Sky at that.

And finally, her way of doing things is... unconventional, to say the least. Coyote would not have thought a girl her age capable of making three people invisible for multiple hours. And he certainly would not have thought walking through the front door of an enemy Famiglia while invisible to be a viable approach. And yet, it works. They slip through the door behind a number of guards during shift change without anyone the wiser and without tripping a single alarm.

As soon as they can, they duck into a side corridor. The Vongola hadn't had the time to acquire blueprints of the Corvi Stronghold, so they had no idea where to find Federico.

It is a medieval stronghold, however. The dungeon would be a sensible place to start.

The children are silent during the search. They apparently have their own sign language that they don't even use most of the time, taking their cues from body language and significant looks. Coyote is starting to understand why Reborn had recommended them.

They don't find Federico in the dungeon. Coyote resists the urge to burn something, anything, down. He needs his wits about him. Timoteo relies on him. _Federico_ relies on him, Federico who he'd known since he was but a bump in Lady Vongola's stomach, and later a child he'd held in his arms after he was born. He'd guarded Federico, had played with him, taught him combat and strategy, watched him grow from a boy to a man to an aspiring boss.

Coyote Nougat had dedicated his entire life to Timoteo and the Vongola and never married. Federico is the closest thing Coyote Nougat has to a son. He _has_ to find him. It frustrates him to no end that Federico doesn't seem to be there.

They duck into an empty room. Harietta releases her illusion of invisibility and sinks into a chair, sighing almost imperceptibly; the first sign that her continuous usage of illusions is wearing on her. "Maybe they have him in a secret room," she says softly. "Or in another building?"

"These kinds of strongholds often have concealed passages and hidden rooms," Coyote informs her.

Gokudera frowns. "Excuse me for a few minutes," he suddenly says and ducks out of the room. Coyote stiffens. To run off so suddenly-

A light touch on his good hand. "Don't worry, Mr. Nougat," Harietta says, looking up at him earnestly. "Hayato knows what he's doing. He's really strong and smart."

"I'm giving him five minutes," he returns impassively. She nods.

"Okay."

Two minutes later, Gokudera returns, dragging an unconscious man with him. "Harry, soundproof the room," he orders. "We'll make him talk."

The young girl swallows and nods, a twitch of her fingers making the mosquitoes fly to positions around the room. Gokudera meanwhile wakes up the man he brought - not a guard, his suit is too fine for him to be anything but someone with money and power.

"And don't look," Gokudera adds. "This might get messy."

She nods again and turns away, swallowing. Coyote sees her fingertips tremble before she clenches her hands into fists.

He doesn't care.

He'd rip the man apart bone by bone to find Federico.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **A/N: Some people have been raising concerns over Harry's Flame situation happening because I might have decided to stick to KHR canon. That is not the case, rest assured. Canon will only be followed loosely.**

 **Actually, we haven't even reached canon yet...**


	9. 042 - 044,5

**042 - The Vongola Incident: Finding Federico**

It's a bit of a cliché. There _is_ in fact a secret room, and the entrance is hidden behind a shelf in the library. If Harry weren't so tense and worried, she'd roll her eyes. So far she hasn't found even one Mafia mansion where there isn't a secret passsage hidden in each of the various libraries.

Libraries happen to be incredibly easy to sneak around in, even without illusions.

Mr. Nougat takes out any guards they encounter along the way, Hayato sticks close to Harry. She appreciates it. It's not that she can't fight, it's just that she doesn't like it at all. And it's kind of hard to focus on fighting when she has illusions to maintain.

They find the secret passage fairly easily. Inside the tunnel, Harry can already smell the blood. And it's uncomfortably hot for some reason.

She _really_ doesn't want to know what they're doing to Mr. Federico. It was hard to tolerate even what Mr. Nougat did to make the man Hayato captured talk, and that didn't take long. But Mr. Federico has been here for hours.

She swallows dryly. This is the scariest job she's ever been on.

In front of them towers a vault door with tons of security features, a fingerprint scanner, and an eye scanner. Mr. Nougat growls animalistically and the ring on his finger starts to burn red as his fists hit the door and _disintegrate_ it.

Holy shit. Are those Storm Flames? She didn't know they could do those kind of things! Imagine if she could do that...

All thoughts fly out the window when a wave of heat and the scent of blood, sweat, burned flesh and feces hits her from the destroyed door. She and Hayato gag, while Mr. Nougat storms into the room without hesitation. Alarms start to blare, and Harry and her partner get themselves under control and hurry into the room, too.

She wants to cry when she sees the bleeding mass of flesh chained to two metal posts in the middle of the room, next to a basin filled with glowing coals. Dimly aware that Hayato and Mr. Nougat are fighting and raging against men in the room, she hurries to him.

Harry isn't a doctor, but she _has_ picked up some stuff from Shamal. A twitch of her fingers has a few Mist Mosquitoes stinging Mr. Federico, that should take care of some of the pain, though there's a limit to what illusions can accomplish, especially against something as _real_ as pain. She gives what she can spare, then she takes from her pockets the case with large, yellow glowing Sun Mosquito capsules. The moment she frees five of the insects, they take off at insane speed, and only a _very_ quick lash of Mist brings them under her control again.

After injecting their Sun Flames into Federico, they fall to the ground and die. Harry bites down the sting of guilt and instead starts picking the locks of the chains on Mr. Federico's arms and legs. They're slick with blood so it isn't easy, but she manages.

"Who-" he mumbles, slowly coming awake after the Sun Flame injection. Glazed brown eyes slide over her. "A-angel?"

"No, I'm Harry, I'm a thief," she answers. One lock finally clicks and Mr. Federico screams as she moves his arm. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, we'll get you out of here, I promise," Harry whispers frantically.

"Federico, can you hear me?" Mr. Nougat steps up beside her, he must've finished fighting. Hayato is there, too, working on the chains on Mr. Federico's legs.

"C-coyo," Federico mumbles. "S-so tired. Spine's hurt."

The second arm slides free. Mr. Nougat and Harry catch Federico as he tilts forward, unable to support himself.

"Stay awake!" Mr. Nougat orders sharply. "Federico!"

Harry and Hayato pick the rest of the locks. Mr. Nougat throws Federico over his shoulders, and then they run.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **043 - The Vongola Incident: The Battle**

Outside, it's chaos. Alarms blare. People throw themselves into their way. Shots are fired. Hayato curses and takes cover behind a library shelf, Harry tucked away securely next to him. Behind another shelf is Coyote Nougat, returning fire with a gun.

It's a miracle the library hasn't caught on fire yet. If it does, they'll die.

Hayato takes out a gun of his own, an MP 44. Commander Colonello had taught him to shoot, and the invasions and battles on Mafia Land prepared him for situations like this. The problem is Federico, and to a lesser extent, Harry. Federico, because he's deadweight. Harry, because she doesn't have any experience with battles like this and because she's exhausted the majority of her Flames.

Hayato knows that she's terrified. And that worries him, because Harry does stupid things when she's scared.

Like... make herself invisible and scramble up the shelf if the gust of air is any indication, _oh shit._ And he can't yell after her because _what if they hear and aim at her_? He curses inwardly and continues to shoot. Harry knows where he was aiming, she wouldn't be stupid enough to walk right into his line of fire and if she does, then she'd bloody have it coming, and Hayato is _so_ going to kill her for this. Just because she can make herself invisible doesn't mean she'll be intangible, bullets can still hit her!

Suddenly, he hears people scream, and the frequent noise of gunshots ceases, so he chances a look.

Fucking Harry.

When the hell had she stolen one of his Rain gas grenades?!

Whatever, they had to get out of here while the enemies were dropping down snoring. Which is apparently also a thought that actually made it to Harry's brain because she's suddenly back, dragging him up and then running over to Coyote Nougat who's already on his feet, and then the three of them are running again. Four if one counts Federico, which Hayato doesn't. Deadweight doesn't count, and they wouldn't be in this damn fucking mess if it weren't for that bastard anyway. And then Harry wouldn't be _shot_ at.

Oh yes, he saw that. The scrape on her cheek, the thin line of blood drawn there by a bullet whizzing past her _this close_. And there's something wrong with her arm, it isn't moving right, and Christ, Hayato is going to lock her up in a tower until she's thirty before he'll let her out again.

"Hayato!" she screams, and he throws himself forward, an explosion behind him blowing him off his feet, and what kind of idiot uses explosions in their own home, in close fucking quarters?! He tucks into a roll and gets to his feet again, throwing small dynamites behind him without looking, the kind that _won't_ bring the house down on them because _that's how it's fucking done_.

They keep running. Vongola's Storm runs ahead, and no enemy can stand in his way, none are strong enough. Harry and Hayato follow in his wake, Hayato taking out any pursuers. And Harry more than once leaps up and climbs walls to take out snipers aiming at them from stairwells and balustrades. It terrifies Hayato every single time when she leaves the relative safety of their group.

Yeah, _so_ locking her up when they get home.

They take a turn and suddenly stand in a larger hall - a sitting room of sorts, and it's filled with enemies, and they aren't shooting, they're charging with knives, swords, and bare fists. Great, just _fucking_ great. Coyote Nougat roars in anger and charges, his previous poise and precision left behind and pure rage taking its place and laying ruin to the number of enemies - but there's so many still left. Hayato growls and switches his gun for dynamites. "Harry, I got your six."

"Right, thanks," she answers, flashing him a quick, strained smile as her hands dive into her pockets.

Hand-to-hand isn't Hayato's preferred method of combat. Harry on the other hand has a trump card there.

His partner's hands retrieve yellow glowing capsules from the depths of her jacket. Her fingers flick, and four Sun Mosquitoes come shooting out, circle around her, and then slam into her like bullets, injecting her with pure Sun Activation. Yellow sparks flicker all over her, her eyes start glowing yellow. The bullet graze on her cheek heals rapidly.

The first enemy reaches her just then.

Harry's punch sends him flying into the opposite wall.

From then on, she's a blur of motion. Where she is, people break. She's too small to catch easily, too slippery and fast, darting between legs or vaulting over heads, using shoulders and helmets as springboards. And where she's not, Hayato's dynamite does its work.

The enemies just keep coming, though. No matter how many he blows up, more take their place. And Harry is going to lag soon. The Sun Mosquito injection only lasts for a few minutes.

"VOOOOOI!" a voice screams. Superbi Squalo comes running in, bloodlust gleaming in his eyes. "LISTEN UP YOU FUCKING - ARGH SHITTY BRAT WATCH WHERE YOU FUCKING THROW PEOPLE!"

"EXTREMELY SORRY!" Harry shouts back.

"Oh~, Harri, your sorelly is _so_ proud of you~," Lussuria sing-songs as he almost dances in.

Shots ring out. Reborn sits in a chandelier. Dressed as a light bulb. A _glowing_ light bulb.

The battle is over fairly quickly after that.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **044 - The Vongola Incident: Vongola Nono**

Harry isn't quite sure how it happens, but somehow they end up at the Vongola Mansion. For her, it's a blur. She's dizzy, and her body is kind of unhappy about the Sun Flames running out. Withdrawals, Shamal calls it. It's why her Sun Mosquitoes always die after usage, which is why Harry hates using them.

So she spends the entire time leaning on Hayato until they're suddenly lead into a large room - _too large, too rich, too pretty_ \- where she face-plants into a huge bed and falls asleep.

It's kind of disorienting to wake up in those kinds of surroundings. At least, Hayato is there next to her. Dead to the world, but he's there.

Harry doesn't have time to escape before he wakes up.

"And just what," he growls at her, giving her the death glare (which his horrible bedhead doesn't detract from in the least), "Did you think you were doing, running into a rain of bullets, woman."

"Err..." she answers. "I was actually running _out_ of the bullet rain?" she tries hopefully. "'cause they were shooting at us while we were behind the shelves, so if I got away from there invinsible, they wouldn't shoot at me anymore! See, it makes perfect sense!"

Hayato's glower deepens. "You stole a Rain gas grenade and ran into the line of fire to attack a dozen sharpshooters _by yourself_ without warning."

"And it worked!" Harry says triumphantly.

...it may have been the wrong thing to say, if the resulting lecture is anything to go by. And boy, is Hayato mad. "House arrest for thirty years!" he finishes.

"...one day," Harry bargains.

Death glare.

"Two?" she asks. "Three? Err, a week?"

Cripes, she isn't good at this bargaining thing.

"Thirty. Years." Hayato emphasises the words with taps on her forehead.

She nods seriously. "A day, then."

He growls something unintelligible when a knock on the door sounds. Harry jumps up and runs over to the door before Hayato can catch her. It doesn't stop him from yelling, "We're not finished, young lady!" after her.

"Hi Mr. Nougat!" she chirps upon opening the door and then drops her voice. " _Get me out of here._ "

"Don Vongola wants to see you both," Mr. Nougat says.

Harry blinks. "Oh," she says. "Is he nice?"

Mr. Nougat gives her a chastising look. "Hurry up," he says by way of an answer.

"'kay, just a sec," she says and slips back into the room to fix her appearance. Some maids had apparently laid out some clothes while they were asleep, and wasn't that just creepy. "Hayato," she says. "Hey! Earth to Hayato! Get dressed!"

Hayato sits on the bed, face blank.

"Hayato?" Harry asks.

" _We're meeting Vongola Nono!_ " Hayato squeaks in a seriously high-pitched voice.

"...We can always run?" Harry tries to assure him. He gives her a horrified look.

"Are you mad, woman?"

"Aren't we all?" She grins at him. "Chill. It'll be okay. I think. Now get dressed."

Hayato probably breaks a world record in speed-dressing. One moment, he's on the bed with bedhead and rumpled and singed clothes, the next he's dressed smart with his hair brushed and neat. Maybe he has magic, too, Harry thinks.

"C'mon," Hayato grumbles, holding his arm out to her, which Harry grabs gratefully. She's still feeling a little exhausted. Too much Flame use. And two thirds of her Mist Mosquitoes have been killed, a third of the Rain Mosquitoes, and _all_ of the Sun ones. She'd have to go see Mr. Verde after this was done.

Together, they follow Mr. Nougat through vast, tastefully decorated hallways. The Vongola Mansion is like a castle. Marble floors, polished surface, expensive art everywhere. Even the servants have polished shoes. It's an alien world to Harry - not the luxury, she's been in a lot of mansions, but the situation of her being actually invited.

Hayato looks entirely unbothered, but she feels the tension in the arm she's holding onto, sees the wary looks he shoots everywhere. She squeezes his arm gently, just to let him know she's here. Some of the tension fades, only to return threefold when a man runs up to them and exchanges hurried words with Mr. Nougat before he's dismissed.

A sudden weight on her shoulders makes her tense up, but she manages not to go with her first instinct of shaking it off by doing a row of backflips. Good thing, too. "Hi, Mr. Reborn," she greets politely.

"Good morning, Harietta," the Arcobaleno returns her greeting.

"Harry, please," she says automatically while trying to figure out what his angle is.

"Why?" he asks bluntly.

Harry tries to shrug. It's kind of hard to do with her conversation partner sitting on her shoulder.

"No reason," she says. "I just like it better."

It's the first name she's ever known. It's the name she introduced herself to Hayato with. Harietta is a girl's name, maybe even a young lady's. Harry fits a street rat like her better.

She's about to say something else, but then she sees the chameleon on his fedora. "Hi I'm Harry," she introduces herself to it.

"This is my partner Leon," Reborn says.

"Nice to meet you, Leon," she answers, and smothers the urge to grab the little animal and hug it to her face because it's so _cute_.

"Hayato Gokudera," Reborn addresses Harry's best friend who's been growing tenser and tenser throughout the conversation. "Does she always talk to animals?"

"Depends on the animal," Hayato answers shortly. "I've seen her hold an hour-long conversation with Commander Colonello's hawk."

"Falco and I have common areas of interest," Harry nods. "We both like to drink tea and hunt small animals. Wait, no, that's not right." She frowns. "I'm vegetarian."

"I prefer espresso myself," Reborn comments. "We're here." He hops off Harry's head in front of a magnificent door.

"What was that," Hayato hisses into her ear.

"I don't know, but I like the chameleon!" she hisses back.

It's not like they can talk here. Hayato will get what she says. She likes the _chameleon_. No comment on anything or anyone else.

Reborn terrifies her. She always feels like a mouse in front of a lion. Reborn is _dangerous_.

The doors open in front of them. Behind is a large office. Some people standing around a large desk, an old man sitting behind it, looking at them kindly, but Harry registers those things only distantly, because _Flames._ Mist is wafting out, almost unnoticeably, telling her to be calm, comfortable, at ease, that's just a friendly old man, he could be her grandfather even.

But it isn't just an old man. She senses the power, the warm wealth of Flame, enticing, beckoning her own, and she _wants_ , she wants so _badly_. But her Flames won't obey, they're too exhausted and instinctively recoil even, because they'd get _smothered_ and _burned_. Harry stumbles drunkenly for a moment, Hayato tensing even more. He can't feel it, she thinks. Poor him. No Flames.

"Are you alright, my dear?" the old man asks kindly.

She gives him her largest smile when all she feels is desperation because she wants _wants_ _wants_ , but smiles are better than pleas and tears. People like her better when she smiles. She _needs_ him to like her.

"I'm perfect," she answers breathlessly. The old man frowns, and _oh God_ , did she do something wrong? No, no, no! She can't screw this up! Maybe she needs to do something to impress him. But all she's good for is stealing, that's not going to help her any, she's _worthless_ , don't cry, don't cry, no one likes when you cry, you need to be nice and charming-

"Harry," Hayato says, but it sounds so distant over the rushing sound in her ears. "Harry!"

"Oh dear," the old man says, but by then she's already slumped to the ground.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **044.5 - Side story: Reborn's view**

Reborn has had an eye on the girl known as Harry for a while now. He'd seen potential in the young Sky back when she'd lured the Filipi Famiglia into attacking the Chiavarone. So he'd asked Shamal to check in on Hayato Gokudera, knowing full well that Shamal would know that the one he wanted information on was the girl once he saw her.

That venue had been unsatisfying, to say the least. Shamal hadn't reported much besides _she's a thief, she's magical, she ran away from an abusive family situation_.

Abuse. Reborn had sneered in disgust at that. Family should support one another.

He had wondered if the abuse had been because of her relatives having medieval views on magic, or if it was simply her Sky charisma inviting undue attention. It is disgusting, but abuse of young Skies isn't uncommon.

The next he'd heard of her was when Shamal had reported that Harry was now Harietta Giglio Nero after being adopted into the Giglio Nero Famiglia since it had turned out that there was a blood relation there. That had been a surprise, to say the least. Maybe it shouldn't have been. Luce's Family had always produced strong Skies.

A month or so later, he'd heard through the grapevine that Shamal had taken on a young Mist thief named Harietta and gone on a training trip with her.

A _Mist_. When there was no way for anyone to identify her as anything _but_ a Sky.

Reborn had decided to pay a visit to Aria. Who had given him all the answers he wanted, and some he hadn't asked for as well.

"You must think me a monster," she'd said at the end, quietly, bitterly.

She'd been a bright child once. The Mafia had taken the light from her, not that she let any but her most trusted see it.

He hadn't answered her. Aria hadn't really seemed to want an answer anyway. "A child of my own blood, a member of my family, and I had her broken in a way that she can't heal from. And every time I look at her, I want to throw up because she's hurting and _I did that_."

"Stupid Aria," Reborn had said. "Do you regret it?"

There had been a long moment of silence, then Aria had spoken haltingly. "No. Never. The things I saw her suffer in that future... and the future by itself..." She had shuddered. "This world isn't kind. Especially to those who shine the brightest. And Harry... shone brighter than anyone." Aria shook her head, eyes pained. "I broke something very beautiful to make it last longer. I'd do it again to save those I love, her included."

Reborn had pulled his fedora into his face. "Then stand by your resolve proudly," he'd answered. "And take responsibility for what you've done."

Ultimately, it was no skin off his back what happened to the young Sky. As Aria said, their world was a dark one. The girl lived on, her light dimmed but not extinguished. Not doomed to be the catalyst of a war that ripped the world apart.

Still, when he watches her broken self fall right in front of him, he can't help but hate Aria just that little bit.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

* * *

 **A/N: Don't kill me! Next chapter will be out the day after tomorrow, with the resolution to all the recent angst! And a plot twist you won't see coming...**


	10. 045 - 052

**045 - Discord**

Harry wakes up, sluggish and lethargic.

She's on a bed. It smells like hospital. That's weird, she isn't hanging with Shamal anymore. Is she?

"Ahh, you're awake, little lady," Shamal says.

She moans and curls into herself. It _hurts._ And she's _thirsty_. She _needs_.

Yes.

She _needs_.

She needs to find that Flame. So she attempts to roll off the bed. Hands hold her down. "Harry, no," Shamal says.

"Lemmego!" she cries, trying to push him away, not succeeding. "I need! I want! Let me _go_!"

"No."

" _Please_!"

"No."

"I hate you!" she screams. "You can't keep me here! Let _go_! You have no right! I need!"

"Harry!" another voice exclaims, another set of hands grabs her shoulders.

" _NO!_ " she shrieks, writhing on the bed. "Letgoletgoletgo! It hurts! _Hayato_!"

"I'm here," the voice says. "Harry, I'm here, it's okay, I've got you."

She whimpers. The hands gather her close. "Hayato, please," she whispers. "It hurts. Please let go. You're my friend. Friends don't hurt each other. Let go."

"No."

She screams into his shoulder and attempts to rip herself free. "Shit!" Hayato yells, but then Harry feels a sting in her neck and she can't feel her limbs anymore.

"You bastard, what did you do to her?!" Hayato shouts.

"Restrained her," Shamal answers. "She'd have hurt herself, you don't want that, right, brat?"

"What the hell is wrong with her? She's behaving like some junkie!"

There's nothing wrong with Harry! She's fine! She just needs to go to where those Flames are. Why are they doing this to her?! They're supposed to be her friends!

"Exactly," Shamal says, and Harry feels even more betrayed. "We should have known this would happen. Her Flame was broken up into pieces. Of course it would try to latch onto the first Sky it encountered, especially one as strong as Vongola Nono. And she was Rejected, and now she's going into Discord."

"What the fuck," Hayato growls. "We've met other bosses! There had to have been Skies among them! Nothing like this happened!"

"It would have, if they'd been Active, and if they'd been flaunting their power as the Vongola tend to do." Shamal curses. "We're lucky Schnitten tranquilised her when he did and got her out. This could have been _much_ worse. You should probably apologise for trying to kill him."

"I'm okay," Harry whimpers. "Just let me go."

"Harry, it's going to be okay," Shamal says, squeezing her shoulder.

"Yeah, if you let me go! I don't understand why you're doing this to me! I thought we were friends!" Harry sobs.

"I won't fucking apologise," Hayato growls. "It's their fault she's like this! The hell do they think they're doing, dripping their Flames everywhere!"

"You're lucky Nono is being so understanding about this," Shamal mutters.

A lull in the conversation, only interrupted by Harry's pained gasps. "Okay, I'll be good. I know I'm acting weird. But I'm over it! I swear! Let me go, I'll show you!"

"Shit," Hayato curses. "What the hell do we do?"

"Verde is on his way. He'll bring Flame supplements. She'll be alright."

But she's fine! She just hurts a little, but that was because they were keeping her prisoner! She'd be okay if she was with those Flames!

"And that'll fix her?" Hayato asks.

"I'm fine!" she slurs.

"No," Shamal says bluntly. "It's a temporary solution at best. I suspect the only real help would be for her to form a Guardian Bond with a Sky. Problem is, it'll happen the moment she meets a decently powerful Sky with the way her Flames are right now. Neither of them would have much of a choice. She could very well end up enslaved to some Family."

"Hell no," Hayato growls. "I'm not letting that happen."

The rest of the conversation is lost on her as her mind drifts off into unconsciousness.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **046 - An enlightening conversation**

Harry feels like she's been run over by a truck twice the next time she wakes up.

"H-Hayato?" she asks.

"Not quite," says Mr. Verde from where he sits before a screen, looking at many colourful lines.

"Hi," she says. "What happened?"

"Your currently unbalanced Flames tried to form a Guardian Bond with Vongola Nono's pure Sky Flames," Verde answers. "It didn't go well. You were Rejected."

"No," she mumbles. "I Rejected him. His Flames beckoned mine."

Verde snorts. "Not purposefully. It's simply the property of Sky Flames. You think you Rejected him, but in reality your Flames recoiled because he already has a Mist Guardian."

"So it's all my fault?" Harry asks.

Verde snorts again. "Hardly. You had no influence in this whatsoever. And Nono should know better than to flaunt his Flames so blatantly in front of children." The green-haired baby rolls his eyes. "I hear you got a heavy compensation deposited into your bank account along with your payment, like that would help anything."

"Better than nothing," Harry mumbles. "It's not his fault."

"Keep telling yourself that." Verde clicks something on the screen.

"So what happens next?" Harry asks quietly.

"I gave your friend a package of Sky Flame supplements. You'll take one a day. It should keep you from going fully into Discord. You had a very close call."

Harry frowns. "Why not give the package to me?"

"Because Sky Flame supplements are addictive and need to be regulated. On that note, stay away from Skies unless you know you want to be someone's Guardian." Verde clicks something again.

"What're you looking at?" Harry asks. "Are those Flame colours?"

" _Your_ Flame colours, to be precise," Verde answers. "You haven't Activated any more Flames besides Mist, Rain, and Sun?"

"I don't think so," Harry answers. "Why's that?"

"Because you need different kinds of resolutions to call upon different Flames."

"Like what?" she asks.

"Do you ever stop asking questions?"

"I can stop of you want to," she says quietly. "I don't want to be a bother."

Verde rolls his eyes. "Sun: To destroy the misfortune of the Family with their own body. Rain: To become the shower that settles conflict and washes everything away. I'm assuming that you awakened those Flames so easily because you've already resolved to do those things for Hayato Gokudera."

"Well, yes." Harry frowns. "What about Mist?"

"Your dominant Flame. It isn't surprising. All magicals have Mist Flames."

"Huh? What d'you mean?" she asks in confusion. "Shamal's got Mist Flames and he isn't magical."

Verde thows a pencil at her. "Listen to the answers if you ask questions. I'll have you know, this knowledge is only known to very select people. Consider yourself lucky I'm in the mood to share."

"Sorry? And thanks?"

Mr. Verde glares at her. "I didn't say all Mist users are magical, I said all magicals have Mist flames - primary, secondary, tertiary, it doesn't matter. This is because in essence, magic is nothing but a mutated Mist Flame."

"For real?" Harry blinks.

"In the crudest sense. Magic is a Mist Flame that does not require Dying Will Resolution to draw out, it takes only mere intent and a personalised focus, commonly referred to as a 'wand'. For example, the magical act of 'conjuration' is hardly different from the construction of a 'real illusion'. Magic is more versatile than the common Mist Flame, but less powerful. What makes it so special is that it can imitate the properties of other Flames, meaning all magicals can learn all disciplines of magic. If they have a second Flame that isn't Mist, they might excel in certain areas. A magical with a Sun Flame for example might excel in healing and herbology, since the magic wouldn't have to imitate the Activation property of a Sun Flame. If you ever chose to become a witch, you might very well excel in all fields due to your unique Flame situation."

"Whoa, you know a lot about this," Harry says.

"I made it my business to know." Verde sneers. "I made the accquaintance of a witch when I was younger, and I was eager to learn and study, hoping to discover an entirely new field of science full of revolutionary knowledge. I was, however, disappointed. Wizarding society has made minimal progress in the last decades. The magicals cling to a set of outdated rules made centuries ago. Their society stagnates. They rarely ask questions, do not explore the limits of magic, do not attempt to make progress, are content wallowing in the filth of the assumptions their ancestors declared to be the rules of magic. Their science consists of haphazardly proven theories and throwing spells and potions together without system. It is quite disgusting. And the magic they so pride themselves on, that they think elevates them to uber-beings, can easily be imitated and in most cases, surpassed, by intelligent technology and regular Flame use."

"Now I want to go there even less," Harry says dryly. "Thanks for telling me."

"A word of warning." Verde rights his glasses. "Magical society is one that was built and has since been run by people that are Flame-wise inclined to be manipulative and selfish. You would do well to remember that."

"I will," Harry nods. "What do I do about my other Flames? I should have them all, no? Since Sky is made up of all other Flames, and I was originally a Sky."

"It happens when it happens. Come see me when you Activate another Flame." Verde smirks. "You're quite the interesting case study."

"Err... thanks? Does that mean we're friends now?" Harry asks hopefully. Verde blinks.

"Very well. Why not."

Harry gives him a tired grin. "Cool. I don't think I've ever wanted a mad scientist for a friend, but now that I have one, I'm thinking that it's just what I've been missing my whole life."

"And I'm thinking you should be taking medication," Verde remarks dryly. "You're delirious."

Harry starts giggling and doesn't stop until Verde puts her under again.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **047 - Not happy**

Hayato is not a happy camper.

It takes Harry all of three seconds to realise this. In his defence, she'd go ballistic too if the mere presence of a Sky had the potential to enslave him for life or throw him into near-insanity. He worries, she gets that.

But that doesn't mean he has to dog her every step and forbid her from going anywhere alone! And he doesn't have to ask her if she's taken her Flame supplements at every turn, _especially_ since he's the one who gives them to her in the first place!

Seriously. She's _fine_. There's _no_ problem.

It doesn't help that she started sleepwalking. And that when she doesn't do that, she wakes up from nightmares, because she's _killed_ people. Oh, she doesn't know for sure, but she'd thrown people into walls hard enough to make them crack - the walls that is, she isn't sure about the people - and it doesn't take a genius to figure out that it's highly likely that some will have broken their necks. She didn't realise it at the time, but now that she's had time to think about it...

She's a killer.

She guesses that means she's now really a member of the underworld.

If she's completely honest with herself, she doesn't regret it. Killing, that is. It sucks that she did it, but they started it, and they hurt Mr. Federico, and it was self-defense, and it's not like there was another choice, and she didn't do it on purpose, and and and. It's all very logical when she thinks about it.

So what if she has nightmares. So what if they make her run to the toilet and throw up whatever she ate before, Hayato holding back her hair. She's okay, and Hayato is okay, too, and that's all she needs. (Aside from Sky Flames.)

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **048 - We'll figure it out**

Hayato doesn't show it, but he's at his wit's end. Harry is going insane and doesn't even realise it. If it were only nightmares... but it's not. He hears her whisper in her sleep of _needing_ and _wanting_ , he sees her space out when there's a lull in conversation, and her answers are absent-minded and somewhat distant. He hasn't seen her bright smile in weeks, and the sparkle in her eyes has dulled so much it might as well never have existed at all. And all his attempts at a serious conversation are being evaded by her in a way that seems completely unintentional on her part, but Hayato isn't so sure it is.

And now this _idea_ is bugging him. A way to make her listen, something she _can't_ ignore. He stares down at his fingers, flexes them. Was it worth it? Facing those painful memories of the woman with the beautiful hands, hands that he had inherited?

He scowls and clenches his fists.

Tomorrow. He'd try tomorrow if he couldn't make any progress today.

A day later, he wants to eat his words as he drags Harry after him into a calmer area of Mafia Land.

"Where are we going?" Harry asks.

Hayato grunts back something unintelligible that might or might not contain a curse or three. She gives him a confused look, but then just shrugs and trudges after him. At least she still trusts him.

They reach a small church, and Harry raises an eyebrow when Hayato gestures her in.

There's a grand piano waiting at the head of the room, black, shining, waiting, and Hayato wants to throw up.

"Hayato?" Harry asks.

God, he never wanted to touch a piano again. His stomach is churning. Kind of like when he looks at Bianchi, just not quite as awful.

He ignores it and drags her over to the piano and unceremoniously pulls her down with him as he plops down on the bench before it.

"Hayato?" she asks again, her eyes wide - and yeah, that's an actual reaction, he's doing something right, now if he weren't about to throw up from the sight of the black and white keys in front of him, he'd count it as a success.

He takes a few deep breath and makes his hands touch the keys. Then his joints just seem to lock up, his fingers rigid and unmovable.

Hayato grits his teeth and starts playing anyway.

The first few notes come too loud and harsh, just as angry and bitter as he is, like the piano hates to be played by him just as much as he hates to play it. But then he remembers - _easy, Hayato, softer, coax the music out with kindness, see, doesn't it sound beautiful that way?_ \- and the melody starts to flow, his fingers remembering, his _heart_ remembering that he loved - still does - playing the piano.

Hayato is almost sorry when the song is suddenly over and his fingers itch to play more. He snatches them away from the keys as if they're on fire and turns to Harry.

Her face is wet with tears, to Hayato's horror, but before he can begin to apologise, he has his arms full of crying girl. Harry sobs into his neck like it's going out of style while Hayato silently panics.

It's nearly ten minutes later until Harry has calmed down enough to speak. "I-I'm s-sorry," she whispers tremulously. "I-I just.. that w-was really beautiful, Hayato." She sniffs. "I'm sorry I'm not really okay anymore."

Hayato grabs her shoulders, leans his forehead against hers. "Hey," he growls. "Stop apologising, it's annoying, woman."

"Sorr-" she begins to say but cuts herself off with a wet-sounding laugh.

"I don't know what to do," she finally says. "I don't know how to get better."

"Shamal said you need a Sky," Hayato answers reluctantly.

"Does that even work?" Harry asks. "I _was_ a Sky once. Before."

"No idea." He wraps a strand of her hair around his finger. "I'll find you one. A good one. Since you can't go out to look. Just give me some time. Trust me. I promise."

Harry bites her lip and slowly nods. "I'm scared," she admits quietly.

Hayato is, too. "We'll figure it out," he promises anyway.

"Okay." Harry leans against him. "I heard about a pretty interesting job I could do while you're gone. No Skies involved, awesome payment. Think I should go for it?"

"Promise to be careful?"

"If you do the same." Harry shoots him a look.

"Then alright," he agrees. "Call when you need help."

She nods.

"Play me another song?" she asks.

His fingers find the keys again, and for the rest of the day, everything is well.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **049 - Robot Cows**

Harry might have underestimated the job a tiny little bit.

Turns out, stealing the Ten-Year-Bazooka is not as easy as it sounds. The Bovino security system is _insane_. She'd spent almost two weeks staking the place out and _still_ nearly got caught.

She didn't, but she _did_ get noticed, which is a bit of a _problem_ , because now she has to carry a huge-ass bazooka while running, not to mention the ammo she grabbed, and it's kind of slowing her down. Which sucks because she's being pursued.

By giant robot cows. With horns. And tasing-abilities.

Also, illusions don't seem to work on them, which means Harry is in deep shit. She makes it into the nearby city before she gets surrounded in a parking lot.

Fuck.

She never did like cows.

These even slobber. When the drops hit the ground, weird hissing sounds and steam rises up. Great, _acid_ slobber.

"Surrender," a mechanical voice says from one of the cows. "Or my cows shall smite you! Gyahaha!"

"Yeah, I'm not surrendering to a _cow_ of all things," Harry snaps back and raises the bazooka. "Go to hell!"

Pink smoke envelopes the cow that spoke, and when it dissipates, the cow is _gone_. No replacement. Harry wonders what happens to things swapped with a future self that doesn't _exist_.

"HOW DARE YOU!" shouts the voice from another cow. "KILL THE THIEF, MY FAITHFUL BOVINE SERVANTS!"

Harry manages to shoot another cow before one slams into her from behind and sends her into a car.

And the pink smoke envelopes her.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **050 - Ten Years Later: Sawada Tsunayoshi**

"...so a Gola Mosca ate your report," Vongola Decimo, known as Tsuna to most of his friends and Dame-Tsuna to his tutor, states disbelievingly.

The things his Family comes up with. Honestly. You'd think he'd be used to it by now. _He isn't_.

"Healthy appetite, it had," the young woman stood in front of his new office desk - new because his desks never last longer than a week if he's lucky - answers blithely. "Anyway-"

 _Poof_!

Pink smoke.

Tsuna senses _shenanigans_.

Hieeee.

...for a few moments, nothing happens. Then a rather bedraggled girl works herself to her feet, looking around with wild eyes, hands clutching a rather big and bulky version of a familiar bazooka - a prototype maybe? Or something?

The girl's eyes meet his.

Oh kami-sama. He didn't think he'd ever see someone beat ten-year-old Fuuta in terms of sheer adorableness. _He was wrong_.

Something tells Tsuna that he should probably say something, but his mind is blank.

"Who are you?" the girl asks in Italian.

Oh shit, Italian. His Italian kind of _sucks_. Much to Reborns trigger-happy pleasure.

"T-Tsuna," he says and points at himself. The girl relaxes for maybe a fraction.

"Mi chiamo Harry," the girl answers warily. "Mr. Tuna."

"Eh?" Tsuna blurts and jumps up. "Hari? You're Hari?!"

Oh. Yeah. Pink smoke. Ten-Year-Bazooka. _Shenanigans_. Duh. Haha. Hieeee.

Little Hari stumbles back a step at his jumping up, and her right leg gives out, sending her to the ground again. For Tsuna, who has spent a _lot_ of his teenage years taking care of children (or trying not to be turned into a slave by them, with mediocre success), it's almost instinct to vault over his desk and catch her. "Are you hurt?" he asks frantically. "Hari-chan? Hold on, I'll get Onii-san, wait, that'll take too long, you only have five minutes, err, First-Aid kit, wait a second-"

Which is when he notices the glazed look in her eyes, and then he _feels_ her Flames surge up with what had to be everything this younger Hari had, and latch on to him desperately, and it's as if he can hear her beg, _accept me, help me, give me a home, please, I need you_.

Tsuna's Flames respond, reaching out, soothing and calming her, this younger version of his Mist Guardian. Tsuna himself tries, too, and draws her into a careful hug, which she eagerly (desperately) returns.

"I didn't understand a word of what you just said, Mr. Tuna," she finally says into his shoulder.

"Oh! Ah! Japanese!" Tsuna blurts. "Err, Giapponais? And it's Tsuna."

"Huh," she mumbles in English, and yeah, that's better, he sort-of learned that in school. "Hayato could teach me, I guess... oh shit, Hayato's going to murder me."

Tsuna starts at the familiar name. Right, Hayato and Harry were already friends even then. "Is Hayato all right?" he asks. "In your time, I mean."

"You know Hayato?" Little Hari asks.

"Yeah, of course, I met you through him. Err, will meet you. Will have met you? Err, you know what I mean..." Tsuna trails off, resisting the urge to bash his head into the nearest flat surface because he's so uncool and this first meeting is even more awkward than the first meeting he remembers in Namimori, and that was plenty Awkward.

Little Hari chuckles a little. "He's okay." She draws back to look at Tsuna. "I'm really sorry about this mess, Mr. Tuna."

"I'm used to it, really," Tsuna snorts and gives her a smile, which for some reason makes her eyes widen and lean away from him - oh shit, does he have something between his teeth? Did he even show his teeth? Is Little Hari afraid of teeth? Hiee! He's screwing this up _so badly_!

Oh, she's smiling. A shy, small smile, not like the bright grins he's used to from her - this younger Hari really is different from the one he knows, isn't she? "Are we friends?" she asks.

"Yeah, we are," Tsuna answers. "Don't tell the others, but you're my favourite Guardian." _Not homicidal, loud, the least amount of collateral damage of all of them. And so, so kind._

She laughs and hugs him again. A moment later, pink smoke explodes again and his arms are suddenly a lot _fuller_ and a head hits his chin from below. "Oww!"

Adult Hari is unbothered, and her arms merely tighten around him. "Thank you," she whispers, reminiscent of the first time he met her.

" _You_ were my first Guardian," he murmurs, stunned at the realisation.

"Or last, depending on how you look at it." Hari draws back and winks at him, eyes sparkling mischievously. At twenty years old, Harietta Giglio Nero is a stunningly pretty woman, with her intense spring green eyes and deep red hair that she has a habit of braiding random things into - flowers, beads, ribbons, feathers, jewelry, and on one notable occasion one of Belphegor's knives. She always reminds Tsuna of a colourful bird, a colibri maybe.

Her grin softens a bit. "You saved me back then, you know? Or, well, a moment ago, actually..." she frowns. "I think I'd have ended up in a bad place without you."

"You're welcome?" Tsuna tries, _and why is she still sitting on his lap, what if Kyoko-chan comes in..._ actually, Kyoko probably wouldn't bat an eyelash.

"Anyway," Hari claps her hands. "I left her - the younger me, I mean, boy is that confusing - our phone numbers and a tracking ring, so when she shows up in this time, we'll know about it, and she can call us if she needs to. Also, I took care of the cows."

"Cows," Tsuna repeats.

"Robot cows," she clarifies. Abruptly, she gets up and strolls over to the door.

"Wait, Hari-chan is going to show up more?!" Tsuna yelps.

"Some." Hari shrugs with a grin. "I better tell the others."

The door closes behind her. Tsuna stares at it blankly, trying to process the events of the previous six minutes. Then he jumps up and yells desperately, "Ahhh! Wait! Hari! I still need your report!"

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **051 - Present time**

Harry lands back in the now empty parking lot, staring around herself blankly.

Five minutes, and her entire world had changed. Stars realigned, halleluja. The whole Harmonisation thing had definitely not been exaggerated. She felt warm all over, and just... _good_. Like her soul got an infusion of hot chocolate. Really nice. A goofy smile spreads on her face.

Slowly, she gets up. There's a piece of paper on the ground, pinned under a stone. And she sees the glint of precious metal. She picks it up - a ring on a delicate chain. The paper says,

 _Hey little me,_

 _took you long enough. The ring is for you, don't_  
 _take it off. And save the numbers into your_  
 _phone, you might need them._  
 _About the bazooka - the secret is in the ammo._

 _Give Hayato a hug from me, will you? ;)_

 _Love,_  
 _Your older self_

 _PS: Don't tell anyone who your Sky is. Stay true to yourself._  
AND DON'T MESS WITH TIME.

Following the message is a list of phone numbers - _Hayato, Tsuna, Carnivore, Squalo, Katana Guy, Zabini, Mione, Sorella, Skull, Reborn, That Guy._ Harry raises an eyebrow at some of the names - Reborn? Seriously? And _Squalo_? As in, Lord Little Piece of Shit? And what're those other weird names about?

She gives a mental shrug, pulls the ring-necklace over her head and lets it vanish under her shirt. Who knew what the future would bring...

She couldn't wait to see it.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **052 - Yeah... about that...**

Harry enters their small appartment in Mafia Land - by now, her and Hayato don't have to crash at Shamal's place anymore, they can afford their own.

"Harry!" Hayato exclaims and jumps up. He looks like he hasn't slept in the two weeks she's been gone. "I'm sorry!" he exclaims and bows before her, which weirds her out. "I wasn't able to find you a good Sky! But I promise I'll do better next time! I'll find you the best Sky there ever was! And I'll become his right-hand man, so we can be Guardians together!"

"Err... Hayato..." Harry hedges awkwardly. "Yeah... about that... I screwed up."

Hayato freezes.

"Uhh..." she gives him a sheepish smile. "Teach me Japanese?"

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے


	11. 053 - 057

**053 - Swear on Omertá**

For the next few days, Harry is on cloud seven. She just feels So Good. It probably freaks Hayato out, but there are worse things to be freaked out over.

She _did_ tell him all she could, but not Mr. Tuna's name. Hayato hadn't even wanted to know after she'd shown him the letter her older self had left her, because ' _your future self probably knows what she's talking about and she also_ _probably_ _has more sense than you, woman, because you have no sense at all'_. Then he'd gone off on a tangent about reading everything on time travel he could get his hands on because _what if she creates a time paradox and the universe implodes_?!

...Is that even a possibility?

Harry, destroyer of the universe. It sure sounds badass.

She still prefers Thieving Magpie.

After those few days are over, she starts missing Mr. Tuna something fierce. It's not logical at all - they'd met for _five minutes_. She can't be _that_ attached already, right?

Once again, Hayato proves that he's better at listening to Shamal than she is, because he tells her that during the time after forming a Guardian Bond, the two involved parties would be exceptionally clingy. And fuck Harry's life, her Sky is ten years in the future and therefore not immediately available.

Hurray for Flame supplements. They don't come close to the real thing, but they do take the edge off.

She _could_ use the bazooka ammo, but she'd rather save that for emergencies.

When Shamal drops by to visit, she tells him that she found her Sky and that he was really nice. (Or will be. Ten years from now.)

Shamal freaks out. " _He_?" he asks. "Your Sky is _male_?"

"Err... yes?"

"Who is he?!" Shamal growls. "How old is he? Where does he live? Is he married and has children? Did he address you as anything other than 'Miss Giglio Nero'? Did he touch you?"

"Dunno." Harry shrugs. "Why d'you ask?"

Shamal fixes her with a look. "Harry, let me tell you some very important things about men..."

...so apparently, all men above the age of twelve are not to be trusted, she surmises from the following ten minute rant. She is not to be alone with any male in that age range, unless said male is happily married with children or physically incapable of touching her. She is also not to date until she's fifty.

"...you do realise that you are older than twelve, unmarried and childless, and not physically disabled?" Harry points out.

"That's different, little lady!" Shamal waves her off. "Now swear on omertà that you won't date!"

"Fuck off! I'm not swearing anything!" Harry flips him off, because no way in hell is she going to swear anything that stupid. Not that she wants to date anyone, but she'd like to keep her options open, thank you very much.

"Language!" he snaps.

"Screw you!" She sticks out her tongue.

Shamal backs down. For two minutes. Then he starts again and Harry jumps out of the window, laughing like mad and feeling _free_.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **054 - Information**

Of course, Harry can't get rid of Shamal that simply. She can, however, distract him.

"Say, you ever heard of someone named Zabini?" she asks him.

Shamal's jaw drops. "Why do you ask, little lady?" he asks warily.

Harry just shrugs. "Something I heard, is all. They're a Mafia Famiglia, right? But I couldn't find out anywhere what they actually do."

He snorts. "Of course you couldn't. They cover their tracks well."

Harry tilts her head and aims her large green eyes at him. _Resist, Shamals, resist... damn._

"The Zabini are a fairly large and powerful Family - powerful in the sense that there's hardly anything going on that they don't know about. They deal in information, identities, and debts. Some other stuff, too, but those are the main ventures."

"Debts?" Harry asks.

"Not monetary ones," Shamal answers.

Harry frowns. She's unusually focused today, he notes. Is that because of her Sky's influence, whoever the bastard may be? Or is she more interested in this topic than she lets on?

Might as well tell her, he reckons. She'd probably hear about them anyway. Actually, he'd be surprised if she didn't end up working with them at some point.

"The Zabini Family is special in the sense that they exist both in the Mafia World and the Magical World," he drops the bomb. Harry gasps.

"But that's impossible!" she exclaims. "We're supposed to stay separate from _them_ , you told me that!"

"Yeah," he answers. "There's a loophole there. See, a Mafia child can go and get magical education. They only need to pick the world they want to belong to _after_ graduation. The Zabini Family cranks out a few magicals in every generation. Those kids after graduation either join the Family business in the Mafia World - or they stay members of the prestigious Zabini pureblood family. They are damn good at crafting identities in either world."

Harry is silent while she processes this. "So... those children operate in both worlds?" she finally asks.

"Correct. They gather information for both Mafia and Magical branch of the Family, but most of all..." Shamal grimaces. "They are the operatives for the Zabini's most lucrative business venture."

"...Which is?" she inquires after he doesn't continue.

Shamal gives her grim look. "I can't tell you."

And cue the Word's Deadliest Pout.

"Seriously, little lady, I _can't_ tell you."

She drops the pout. "Why not? Did you swear on omertà or something?"

"Or something." Shamal rubs the bridge of his nose. "Do me a favour and don't get tangled up with them."

She sighs. "I can try..." she mumbles.

"Fine," Shamal groans. "Don't get tangled up with them _anytime soon_."

"Okay."

Somehow, that doesn't make him feel better.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **055 - Not the end of the world**

Hayato doesn't show it, but he's uneasy.

Sure, he's glad that Harry is getting better - not completely all right yet, but definitely on the way. The spring is back in her steps, and while her eyes haven't regained their sparkle yet, they don't look lifeless anymore, either.

But the knowledge that someone has that much power over Harry, over her sanity, her very _soul_ , is deeply unsettling. Hayato had tried and tried to help her for months, had played the _piano_. This unknown, this Sky, had done what Hayato couldn't within the space of _five minutes_.

And before that, it had taken even less for Vongola Nono to throw Harry into Discord.

And the whole thing wouldn't have been an issue if not for that Aria person, the Giglio Nero Boss, who is also a Sky.

Clearly, Hayato thinks, Skies cannot be trusted. It couldn't be helped now, since Harry apparently _needed_ that Sky, but Hayato would be damned if he'd just watch the whole thing happen. No, once he found that Sky, he'd test him. Make sure he was worthy of Harry. (Which nobody is. Tough shit, Sky bastard. Face the consequences.)

No killing, though. Harry would most certainly cry. Besides, as unsettling as the sudden change is, Hayato is _glad_ that Harry seems to be getting better.

Things go back to mostly normal. Only mostly, because Hayato is getting restless and Harry is the same. He doesn't know why that is in her case, but for him... it was that battle at the Corvi stronghold. He'd fought, and he'd fought well, but it wasn't _enough_. He may have held his own, but he wants to _dominate_ his battles. And he never, ever wants to see Harry hurt again. He doesn't even want to see her fight. She shouldn't have to.

So he needs to get stronger.

And he knows he'd get a lot stronger if he started taking jobs as a hitman. Because his dynamite was meant for that. The guns, too. He is holding himself back, for Harry. Because _she_ hadn't grown up in the Mafia, while he'd been desensitised to killing and death from a young age. And he can still see Harry bent over the toilet, throwing up her dinner after waking from a nightmare, agonising over having taken lives.

So he doesn't bring it up, the fact that he knows he's holding himself back for her. _Later,_ he tells himself. _When she's dealing better_. _Don't push more worries on her_.

And what kills him is that _he_ is holding Harry back, too. She went off on her own and stole _the freaking Ten-Year-Bazooka_! And he just knows that she couldn't have done that with him in tow, because he isn't a good thief.

He hates the thought that to reach their full potentials, they might have to take solo jobs in the future. They're partners, damn it.

It's kind of a relief when another letter from Vongola arrives - this one adressed solely to him, Hayato.

"I've been invited to Vongola's Storm Camp," he tells Harry that evening.

"Huh?" she asks, looking up from her food. "What's that?"

"It's how Coyote Nougat recruits his men - y'know, his Storm Forces. He invites people who caught his interest, they get training and evaluations and shit, and in the end, they might even get recruited into Vongola. It takes place every two years."

"Oh," Harry says quietly, mulling it over. "How long would you be gone?"

"Two months," he mumbles, avoiding her eyes. "No contact. Unless they decide I'm not good enough and kick me out."

"They wouldn't," Harry says with utter conviction. "You're amazing, Hayato." She tilts her head, smiling sadly. "You should be proud of yourself. Do you want to go?"

"It's _two months_ ," he stresses. "Leaving you alone that long-"

"Stop right there," she interrupts. Her green eyes study him seriously. "I refuse to hold you back."

"You aren't!" Hayato protests immediately, and _shit_ , she _knows_. She rolls her eyes.

"It's not the end of the world, 'yato." Her lips quirk up wryly. "I think we both know... that I'm a thief, and you're not, and you aren't going to be happy being my backup forever and doing sabotage jobs in between. You've got _so much potential_ , you could do _anything_ , and you're holding yourself back because you worry about me."

"For good reason," Hayato grumbles. "You have no survival instincts and common sense."

She laughs. "Hayato, come on. It's a great opportunity."

"I don't even like Vongola," he scowls.

That bastard Vongola Nono was responsible for her nearly falling apart. Why the hell would Hayato want to work for him?!

"You can't know that after such a short time. Anyway, you'll get training for free, see how Vongola works, make contacts, and you aren't _obligated_ to work for them afterwards." She raises an eyebrow at him. "I think you should do it."

The truth is, he _wants_ to do it. He wants to learn to be like Coyote Nougat.

Hayato wants to be a right-hand man someday. It's his dream. Because it would mean that someone _needs_ him to be their right hand, because it would mean he'd be respected and important - he, the bastard son who was only good for playing the piano, and that only under poison influence - and maybe, maybe he'd have a Family that would love him for who he is.

(And maybe, he could change the Mafia. So that kids like him wouldn't be used and discarded anymore. So that kind people like Harry wouldn't have to kill to survive.)

"Two months," he says again.

"I'll be okay, what's the worst that could happen in two months?" she replies, a forced smile on her face. "Really. I've been thinking, I might actually get some training myself. Y'know, so I can fight better."

"You shouldn't have to fight," Hayato says sharply.

"Knowing self-defense never hurt anyone," she argues. "And, you know, someday..."

Someday, he might not be there.

"I don't even have a weapon right now," Harry continues. "Or a martial art, or really anything. The Mosquitoes are great and all, but they aren't exactly powerful. I'm a good thief, a great thief even, but other than that, not that special."

Hayato opens his mouth to protest.

"Anyway!" Harry claps her hands with forced cheer. "I've decided! You're going!"

"Hey! Don't just decide by yourself, woman!"

But Hayato can't suppress a small grin as she laughs.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **056 - The weight of secrets**

Hayato leaves a week later. Harry pastes on a smile for him, just like he does for her. It fades as soon as he's gone.

Two months. No contact.

Even in her year-long training with Shamal, they'd had phone calls at least every three days, and they'd sent each other letters all the time. Two months without contact is... harsh.

And necessary. Because Harry didn't convince him to go for entirely unselfish reasons.

She often comes across as a ditz, she knows that. But she's also quite obsevant. Especially when it comes to the jewelry people wear - a habit from her days as a pickpocket thief.

And she'd _seen_ the ring on Mr. Tuna's finger. The ring that looked so very similar to one she'd seen on Vongola Nono's finger in the brief glimpse she caught of him before she was tranquilised.

Oh who's she trying to fool, it was the same ring. Which means that sometime during the next ten years, Harry becomes the Mist Guardian (how does that even work with her being Outside Advisor of the Giglio Nero?) of Vongola freaking Decimo, otherwise known as Mr. Tuna, a man with pretty eyes, fluffy hair, who gives great hugs. And seems to be friends with Hayato. Maybe Hayato is even his Storm Guardian, and god, she hopes he is.

What it means is that she _seriously_ has to do something about her fighting strength.

And she can't tell Hayato that she wanted him in Storm Camp because how else would he meet Mr. Tuna but through the Vongola? According to her Sky, he had met her through Hayato. So Hayato had to have connections to Vongola so he could meet their heir.

But wasn't the heir Mr. Federico? Does that mean Federico dies sometime in the future? What did that mean for her? She couldn't just _let_ him die. But then she'd be changing the future. And her older self had said not to mess with time.

And what if she changed the future and saved Federico - and Mr. Tuna disappeared as a result? Wouldn't that be a time paradox then, because if Mr. Tuna disappeared, then she couldn't have met and bonded with him, and she wouldn't know that something had happened to Mr. Federico, and she couldn't have saved him then, which means that Mr. Tuna would exist again, and the whole thing was going to give her a headache.

What if she had already changed the future by sending Hayato off to Storm Camp?

Harry is very, very aware that by traveling to the future, accidental though it may have been, she took on a responsibility - the responsibility of guarding that future. It's a heavy burden. Usually, her motivations are either ' _Hayato might like this'_ or 'O _hh, shiny'._

 _Don't mess with time,_ her future self had told her, _and stay true to yourself_.

Harry would have preferred a detailed itinerary of all future events and her life-choices, but hopefully, the older her knew what she was doing - after all, wouldn't she have already gone through this? Then those hints in the message would have to be enough.

In emergencies, she could still take a trip to the future and just ask her Sky. Harry still has three of the Ten-Year Bazooka bullets, and she could always steal more, provided she got past the security system again.

In the end, Harry resolves to keep her knowledge of the future a secret.

 _Don't mess with time_ , she'd been told, and she wouldn't give anybody else the chance to, either.

For now, she has work to do, and two months to fill.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **057 - A most suspicious job offer**

Harry is tired. Tired and annoyed and in a rotten mood.

"Seriously?" she asks. "You had to kill my client _right now_? You couldn't have waited _one_ bloody minute?"

"Voi!" Superbi Squalo snarls back, pointing his sword-arm at her. "You shitty brat, what the fuck are you doing here!"

Harry dangles the necklace - only one part of the Beluga Family jewels she stole just a few hours ago - from her fingers. "I'm here to cash in on my haul," she answers dryly. "Thanks for nothing, Lord of Shit!"

"Stop bitching! His fucking wallet's right there!" Squalo gestures to the bleeding mess on the ground. Harry studiously avoids looking at it.

"Yeah, he was paying me in information," she snaps. "I doubt I'll find anything of what I want to know in his _wallet_."

"Not my fucking problem!" Squalo turns and storms out of the room. Harry rolls her eyes and surveys the ransacked office. Nope, nothing here for her. Dammit.

Scowling, she scales the wall and climbs on the rooftop. Below, the streets of Foggia sprawl out. At this time of the night, no one is awake, the streets are empty.

It might have something to do with the rain, too. Harry is soaked to the bone. And the train station is on the other side of the city. This late, no bus is to be seen.

Lips curling in annoyance, she spies Squalo heading for a black, nondescript car. Well, her lack of dryness is his fault. If he hadn't killed her client, she would have had a dry place to sleep now.

So moments after he's setteled himself behind the wheel, she slips in on the other side with all the grace and dignity of a half-drowned kitten.

"What the FUCK ARE YOU DOING, SCUM!" Squalo roars.

She glares at him balefully. "I need a ride."

"VOI! GET THE FUCK OUT!"

Harry demonstratively grabs her braided hair and starts wringing the water out. "No. It's raining."

"I DON'T FUCKING CARE!" Squalo is practically frothing at the mouth. He looks like he wants to kill her even more than he did the last time they saw each other. But it's going to be damn hard to do with a sword in the not-exactly-spacious car, and merely kicking her out would require him to actually catch her, and with her small build and high agility, not to mention the mosquitoes, she has the advantage in the car. Oh, no doubt he _could_ do it, but the question is how _long_ it would take and how much damage the vehicle would suffer - and Harry would make damn sure it wouldn't be able to drive.

"Just drive," she orders.

"VOI! OUT OF MY FUCKING CAR!"

"I've got at least two hitmen after me, so _no_." Harry crosses her arms to hide her shiver in the cold. "Forget it."

...okay, so she's pretty sure she shook them off in Rome, but Squalo doesn't need to know that.

He gapes for a moment. "The fuck did a little brat like you do to get a hit on your ass?"

He isn't yelling anymore, so Harry counts that as a success.

"Get driving and I'll tell you," she challenges. Squalo glares. And glares. And finally turns the key, the motor coming to life. The car starts to move.

Warm air streams in, and Harry almost sighs in relief as she peels off her soaked jacket and kicks off her boots and socks. Squalo's eye twitches when she sits crosslegged in her seat.

It's been a while since she last sat in a car. Harry isn't a fan of enclosed spaces.

"Voi! Get fucking talking!" Squalo orders.

"Yes, yes!" Harry rolls her eyes. "So, the Bovino are being surprisingly bad sports about having the result of nearly two decades of research stolen from them."

Nevermind that they'd had a second bazooka right there, and a half-finished one on the table. Seriously, it's not like she stole the research itself.

Squalo sputters. " _You_ stole the fucking Ten-Year-Bazooka," he states in disbelief. " _You_ got past the security system of the shitty Family that discovered the fucking secret to motherfucking time-travel."

Harry, currently in the process of trying to call on her Sun Flames and miserably failing - seriously, she's freezing , but she can't dry herself with Mist or Rain, those don't give off heat - shrugs. "Yeah well, the security system was insane, but the people behind it were incompetent. Talk too much, y'know?" Which had saved her arse, actually.

"You got fucking caught, shitty brat," Squalo sneers. "You're one to fucking talk about incompetence."

"Screw you!" Harry snaps.

"Watch your fucking language!"

"Go to hell, You Little Piece of Shit! They only know it was me 'cause the Family I stole the bazooka for got pissed because I gave them the bazooka and not the ammo and they didn't cotton on that they got screwed over until a week later." And boy was Harry smug about that one. She loves being a thief, but her clients tend to be smarmy gits, and that time, they'd been smarmy gits wanting to mess with _time_. She'd seriously gotten a kick out of charging them through the nose only to screw them over. "When they _did_ figure it out, they went blabbing about who it was they hired. Which was really dumb 'cause now they gotta deal with Mafia Land lawyers because of a breach in discretion, _and_ they got the Bovino pissed at them, not to mention all the other science-oriented Famiglias."

Squalo snorts, completely unimpressed. "So that was the reason behind all that fucking bullshit?"

"Yep," Harry says, not even surprised that he knew about the skirmishes caused in the wake of her little stunt. "It'd be a lot funnier if someone in the Bovino hadn't put out a hit on me. And I _was_ going to find out who exactly did that today, but guess how that went?" She shoots a glare at Squalo.

"Shitty brat, a few hitmen never hurt anyone," Squalo dismisses her.

"That doesn't make any bloody sense!" she yelps. "Look, they _shot_ at me!"

"You're way too fucking loud to be dead," he grunts. "Musta been one shitty hitman."

"Well, yeah, bullet-proof jacket on my part and shitty aim on theirs, but that's not the point!" Harry gestures wildly. "I need that hit cancelled before Hayato finds out and puts me under house arrest! Which I can't do unless I know who exactly placed that hit!"

"What would you even fucking do?" Squalo demands.

"Rob them blind until they can't afford the hit anymore. Gather blackmail. Get their account details and hand them over to whoever wants them." Harry scowls. "It's not rocket science, Lord of Shit."

"Voi! Stop calling me that, shitty brat!"

"It's your name! And - where the fuck are we driving!"

"Florence."

"I only wanted a ride to the train station!" Harry shrieks.

"Tough shit! Shouldn'ta fucking got into the damn car, then!"

Harry curses. Viciously.

"Voi! Language, shitty brat!"

"Screw you, Lord of Shitty Hypocrites!" Harry descends into vicious mutterings. Hayato really _was_ going to kill her. Shamal probably too. Argh.

"So you managed to fucking get out of the Bovino base alive," Squalo says. "Unrecognised and after stealing their most fucking prized possession."

Harry shoots him her best death glare. It's not very effective. As previously stated, she's currently rocking the half-drowned-kitten look, and is way too adorable in general. Which is why she usually charms her way through Mafia life, in fact, she's quite proud of being well-tempered, but somehow, Superbi You-Little-Piece-of-Shit Squalo brings out the worst in her. She's cursed more in this one conversation than she did in the whole past year.

"I'm fucking good at what I do," she growls out. After her friendship with Hayato, her ability as a thief is what she takes the most pride in.

Squalo stays silent, brow furrowed, as he drives on the highway, and Harry really hasn't got a damn clue where the hell they are. ( _Kill her_. Hayato was going to _kill_ her. Yell at her, and then kill her.)

"You aren't talking," she states. "Or yelling. Or otherwise making noise. _Why_."

Squalo flicks something to her. A little piece of plastic that she snatches from the air almost on reflex. A card. With a number on it, the Varia Logo, and elegant script spelling: _Varia Recruitment Office._

"No," she says instantly. "Forget it. I can't stomach Varia work. And I don't know enough languages."

"Keep the number anyway, shitty brat," Squalo says.

She throws him a suspicious look and pockets the card. She'd have to hide it from Hayato. He'd _freak_ if he knew. Actually, he'd freak if he knew anything of what she's been up to since the day he left. _What's the worst that could happen in two months,_ yeah right her bloody arse.

"Where's your fucking limit, shitty brat?" the Varia Commander who just offered her a job asks her.

"What d'you mean?" she asks, frowning.

"You stole from Bovino. Who wouldn't you steal from?"

He isn't cursing. That's got to mean _something_. So she furrows her brow and thinks. "Vongola," she finally says. "Don't really know 'bout any others."

"Tomaso," Squalo suggests.

"I'd do it." Harry nods.

"Carcassa."

"Deserve to be taken down, and I'll gladly volunteer."

"Giegue."

"Heard they're vicious bastards... but yeah, I'd do it."

"CEDEF," Squalo says with a weird undertone in his voice that she can't place.

Harry's eyebrows shoot up. Okay, this conversation is going into dangerous territory. "Isn't that the same thing as Vongola, really?" she asks carefully.

"No."

She bites her lip, staring down at her hands. CEDEF. Outside Advisors to Vongola. Primarily intelligence-oriented, and formidable at that. Vongola but not Vongola, led by a separate boss known as the 'Young Lion'. Rumour has it they have an Arcobaleno working for them.

"...I wouldn't," she finally says. "But," she continues slowly before Squalo can start yelling or killing or whatever. "I _might_ be convinced if they either pissed me off enough - which is kind of hard to do - or if someone I liked enough was asking." By which she means Hayato. "And the payment would have to be bloody fucking good."

"Free passage," Squalo says.

Harry's mouth drops open. "Are you fucking serious?"

Free passage. In other words, a get-out-of-jail-free coupon, no questions asked. Basically, if she ever pissed the Varia off, they'd let her go once she cashed that in. As far as payment goes... it couldn't get any better. Then again, she has no plans to piss the Varia off ever.

"A fucking one-time deal," Squalo growls at her. "For you or for a person of your choice, provided they aren't direct enemies of the Vongola."

It _really_ couldn't get any better.

"...theoretically, what would I be looking for?" Harry asks. "I'm not making any promises, and I'm nowhere near ready for that kind of job, but I _might_ look into it _someday_. Maybe. If they piss me off, or if I like you enough. Both seriously unlikely."

"A pair of guns," Squalo growls out, his hands tightening on the wheel. "Those bastards have no _fucking_ right to keep them."

"Guns, got it," Harry mumbles. "How do I recognise them?"

"Voi, you'll fucking know when you see them." Squalo cuts her a vicious look that freezes her in her seat. "You breathe one word of this-"

"I won't," Harry cuts him off, shooting him an offended look. "So long as you don't piss me off, we never had this conversation." She holds her hand out. "We got a deal?"

Squalo stares at her hand like a poisonous viper before he gives her the world's shortest handshake. "Deal."

"Goody." Harry burrows deeper into her seat and yawns. "Mind if I sleep? I kinda forgot yesterday. And the day before."

"Are you a fucking idiot."

"Hayato's at Storm Camp, he couldn't remind me from there," Harry says reasonably. "Well, g'night. Don't drive into a tree."

"I'm fucking Varia Quality, shitty brat!" he bellows.

"Yeah, yeah." Harry curls up on her seat. "Whatever."

And with that, she falls asleep.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے


	12. 058 - 061

**A/N:** **So guess what, today is Mukuro's birthday! (I love Mukuro.) So in celebration, here's the next chapter! It doesn't have Mukuro in it... but one day... Also, I got a new story posted, it's a Sword Art Online/Katekyo Hitman Reborn crossover called Online Famiglia, for those of you who are interested!  
**

* * *

 **058 - Florence Main Station**

It's daytime when Harry wakes up, and she's still in the car, though it isn't moving anymore. Squalo is also still there, staring at her warily.

She can make a pretty good guess as to why. Her body is curled around itself, her hands clutching at her chest which hurts like hell. She can only guess what kind of noises she'd made in her sleep. Judging from Squalo's look, it can't have been good.

"I found my Sky, and I can't see him," Harry explains quietly. Something shifts in Squalo's eyes. He looks away from her.

"Fucking hurts, doesn't it," he says. It's not a question. It makes Harry sad, but a more selfish part of her is glad that there's someone who understands.

"Less than not having a Sky at all," she only answers while reaching for the little packet with Flame supplement pills. Once, she couldn't have been trusted with them because she'd have devoured them in one go. Now, she can barely bring herself to swallow.

She offers the packet to Squalo. He shoots her a doubtful look, but pops one of the pills anyway. "Fucking disgusting," he proclaims.

"Takes the edge off 'til I can dose myself with Mist," Harry confides.

"Got friends in high places?"

"Well, I'm sort of friends with Mr. Verde... at least, we are on friendly terms. Sort of allied, I guess. Definitely not enemies. Maybe neutral?" Harry mutters and quails under Squalo's glare. "I'm sort of his guinea pig to his crazy scientist?"

Squalo snorts. "Get out of the fucking car, shitty brat."

Harry rolls her eyes. "Thanks for the ride, Lord of Shit."

"Voi! Don't fucking call me that!"

"Where the hell are we anyway!" Harry snaps, not recognising her surroundings.

"Fucking Florence, main station, you idiot!"

"Dammit. I wanted to go see sorella..." Harry mutters as she finally climbs out of the car. "Later, arsehole."

"Go to hell, shitty brat," Squalo answers flatly before speeding off.

Two days later, she receives a call from Aria's right-hand man Gamma that the hit on her has been cancelled, and Varia Recruitment Office sends their best regards.

Harry firmly shunts the information to the very back of her mind never to think of it again.

"What did you do, Harry?" Gamma asks her. "Why would _Varia_ of all people want you? You're just a really annoying thief!"

"..." Harry blinks at her phone. "That was mean, Mr. Gamma."

"...sorry, kid."

"Really. Are you saying I'm not good enough for Varia? Is that it?"

"No! I'm just saying-"

"Why wouldn't they want me?"

"I didn't mean it like that! I just-"

"Yeah, I'm just a really annoying thief. I get it."

"No! That came out wrong! You're just-"

"Oh, don't bother. You don't have to placate me. I'm just the kid Miss Aria took in, not anyone important." Harry smirks at her phone.

"No! You're a wonderful person and far too good for the Varia!" Gamma rambles into the phone. "I just meant, you're too much of a free spirit to fit in there, and they should know that! Anyone would be lucky to have you!"

"U-huh," Harry says doubtfully, still smirking at her phone. Gamma is _so_ easy to play. "Anyone?"

"Anyone!" Gamma says hastily.

"Can you back that up?" she challenges him.

"Of course!" Gamma indignantly assures her, then pauses. "...you're evil," he says flatly.

Harry laughs. "So can you give me a list of allies and associates of the Giglio Nero?" she asks.

"You could have just asked, you know."

"Now where's the fun in that?" Harry snickers. "Anyway, I'm looking to find someone to teach me some stuff and make me more awesome than I already am, so I'd really appreciate your help."

Gamma sighs deeply. "No problem. I'll have mailed it to you by tomorrow. Anything specific you're looking for? What do you want to learn?"

"Err... I'll know when I see it," Harry answers sheepishly.

"You have no idea, do you?"

"Nope! Thanks, Gamma!" Harry ends the call with a grin on her face.

One thing was for sure, she would not be sitting on her ass while Hayato was gone.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **059 - Harry's teacher: Looking and finding**

Gamma keeps his word. Actually, he goes above and beyond in his duty and gives her not just a list of people, but information on their specialisations and abilities as well, not to mention a whole itinerary complete with train- and bus tickets that will allow her to visit everyone with minimal waste of time.

Unbeknownst to Gamma, Harry is incredibly bad at keeping schedules.

Harry visits and discards four potential teachers - Mr. Abadelli is mean, Miss Singh too strict and ladylike, Marco the sniper is cool but more of a soldier than anything which they both agree wouldn't do Harry any good, and finally Darius the thief is a plain asshole - and after that gets distracted. By people in colourful costumes on an awesome poster. And she decides she can spare a few hours for what looks to be a fun show.

While waiting for the performance to start, she studies Gamma's list once again - and boy, do the Giglio Nero have connections. Reborn the Terrifying Baby is on it, so is Commander Colonello, as well as someone named Mammon who she thinks is a member of the Varia (and _hell no_ to that), and a person named Fon who apparently is the world's most renowned martial artist. Not to mention several of the Mafia's best thieves and hitmen, several intelligence specialists, and three minor bosses.

Surely one of them would be what she's looking for? Not that she knows what that actually is, but as she told Gamma - she'd know when she saw it. Her intuition _is_ pretty good after all.

Harry puts the list into her pocket when the show begins - and she was _right_ , it's so much more fun than sitting in a train.

And then, after a short break in which she gorged herself on cotton candy, _he_ enters. And Harry watches and she _knows_.

"Please take me as your student!" she begs after the show has ended.

" _HOW did you get in HERE?!_ " Skull de Mort shrieks in the supposedly private confines of his personal wagon.

Harry blinks. "Err... good question." She grins sheepishly. "I seriously need to watch myself around locks."

"AND WHO ARE YOU?!"

...now she regrets running from Hayato's etiquette lessons. There would probably have been advice for handling situations like this in them. And- "Hey, is that an octopus?"

Skull screeches.

"Right, sorry! I'm Harry! That's short for Harietta." She gives her best Disarming Smile. "And you're awesome and I only saw you a few hours ago but I think I'm your biggest fan and can you please be my teacher? I mean, Mr. Gamma gave me list of teachers-" she waves said list around. "But you're way cooler."

Skull laughs obnoxiously. "Of course! I'm the Great and Immortal Skull-sama!"

"Are you an Arcobaleno?" Harry asks. "'cause you're a toddler, but you're way too awesome to be normal. Plus, you got a pacifier."

"You're Mafia?"

"Oh. Yeah. Forgot to mention that." Harry laughs sheepishly. "I'm with the Giglio Nero. They gave me this list." She holds the list out to him, he takes it automatically.

"Ah! Giglio Nero! You're with Luce's Family!" he shouts, pointing at her.

"Who's Luce?" Harry asks.

"She was- WHY AM I NOT ON THIS LIST!" Skull screeches.

Harry shrugs. "I dunno, I just saw the poster for the show and thought it'd be fun to watch, and here we are."

"This has Reborn-senpai on it! And Fon! And Colonello!" Skull flails his arms around, not even listening as he looks at the list. "What're you doing watching circus shows!"

"Time well spent," Harry answers with her brightest grin. "I met you, didn't I? So can I be your student?"

"What would you even want to learn!" Skull squawks, waving the list around. "I'm not like _them_!"

Harry blinks and thinks back to the show. "I want to learn," she says quietly. "To ride a bike, to fly with it, to taunt death and escape it with a smile. I want to learn to break the laws of gravity - gravity is such a bother, don't you agree? - and I want to learn to be fearless. I want to learn to not just overcome my limits but ignore them altogether. I want to learn freedom." She takes a deep breath. "And I'd like to learn how to make people smile."

Skull turns away and sniffs.

"Mr. Skull?" Harry asks worriedly.

"That was..." he sobs. "That was beautiful." He suddenly turns around and points at her. "Alright! You can be the Great Skull-sama's student! I'll train you! I'll teach you to ride a bike! I'm going to make you the second-best stuntman in the world! People will whisper your name in awe!"

"...can I be a stuntman part-time? 'cause I'm already a thief and that's a lot of fun. And can I have a stage-name?"

Skull hops on her shoulder. "You can be whatever the hell you want! ...what was your name again?"

"Harry."

"You can be whatever the hell you want, Harry-chan!" Skull spreads his arms and laughs. "There are no limits you cannot break! The Great Skull-sama will make you _unstoppable_!"

"Awesome!"

"Ride a bike? Don't make me laugh! By the time I'm finished with you, you'll be jumping through rings of fire with it while standing on your hands!"

"Great!"

"I'm _so_ going to rub this into senpai's face!"

"Cool! Wait, what?"

Skull laughs, wild and free to Harry's ears. "TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!" he shouts, pointing out of the window.

"Err... okay!"

And that's how Harry ends up joining a circus.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **060 - Harry's teacher: Training with Skull**

Skull is way more fun as a teacher than Shamal. Though Shamal is great, too! Not that Harry would ever tell him that, it's much more fun to see him grumble and grouch and pretend he isn't wrapped around her little finger.

Skull though. Skull is _the shit_.

The first day, Harry learns about the Cloud Circus itself - a circus that is under Skull's protection and serves as a sanctuary for Mafia damaged people. Skull makes allusions to other protections but doesn't go into much detail; she figures she'll find out later.

She meets a bunch of people that day - jugglers, acrobats, the director, a bearded lady, the old guy responsible for costumes, and many more. The atmosphere is great, familial even from what Harry can tell.

Training starts the next day. Skull teaches her breakdancing. Harry totally didn't expect that but just rolls with it.

"It's great for athletics and rhythm and footwork and flexibility and stuff!" Skull explains while demonstrating moves that she has to copy. It has to be noted that everything he does, he does on his bike. And not just the seat either, occasionally he hops around on the handle, too. Harry is struggling keeping up with him while on _solid ground_. "And best of all, it's FUN!" Skull shouts.

Has she mentioned that Skull is awesome yet?

Later, after hours of dance lessons, Skull dumps a few books on bikes, mechanics, and engineering on her head. "You've got to know this!" he declares. "You wanna ride a bike, you better know how it works!"

More stuff she didn't really expect. And mechanics are _hard_. It helps though that she can use illusions to visualise everything she reads about. Also, Skull grills her about the stuff in those books in the following days, that's added motivation.

Why she has to learn this stuff becomes clear pretty soon.

Skull wants her to build her own bike from the ground up. With his help and guidance, of course, and custom ordered parts. But still.

"Anybody can learn to drive!" he shouts. "But we're the best of the best! You gotta know every screw, every plate, every tiny detail of your bike! Your bike's gotta be your heart and soul!" He points up at the sky in a heroic pose while standing on the handle of _his_ bike. Then he drops the arm and admits sheepishly, "Also, you need a custom bike anyway. Too short for a normal one, y'know?"

Harry grins. "Okay, Skull-sensei!"

(Skull is a Japan fan for some reason. Until the Vongola declared the Japanese language _chic_ a few years back, he was looked at like a weirdo for his tendency to adress himself and others with Japanese honorifics. _Now_ they look at him weird because of his awesomeness.)

There are days when Skull has no time for her, in which case he dumps her on friends he has at the circus - the beast tamers, the jugglers, the acrobatics, whoever is available. It's chaotic and so much fun. She can't wait to show it all to Hayato.

It's also exhausting as hell which is an added bonus because there's not one night where she doesn't fall asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow. There's hardly any time to miss Hayato, much less Mr. Tuna. Between bike-building, dance lessons, building up muscles, and lessons with the circus artists (turns out she's excellent at juggling, her hands are nimble and quick from all her pickpocket thievery), time passes quickly.

Her bike is finished after about five weeks. She'd thought it'd take longer, but Skull is an expert, and some stuff the circus mechanic Jeremy did for her, like fusing and stuff.

Anyway, the bike is finished, and it's _beautiful_. Sleek and black, with indigo little stars painted on it to form a flamelike pattern, and Harry is in love. Skull is, too, won't shut up about how great it is and what parts they used for this and that and how the suspension is just _perfect_ for stunts and that this is literally the kind of bike that could learn how to fly.

"Awesome," Harry says. "I've been dreaming of flying a motorbike my whole life."

"That's the spirit!" Skull crows and hops on her head, which had quickly become a favourite place of his. "Oh, before I forget." He hands her a few papers.

Harry raises her eyebrows. "Hari de Mort? Your niece?" she asks.

"You need some civilian ID," Skull shrugs. "And a permit for driving."

Her eyebrows rise in anticipation. "Sweet, so that means you'll teach me driving soon?"

"Let's go right now!" Skull shouts.

"Awesome!"

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **061 - Harry's teacher: Reasons why**

Skull takes her to a huge concreted area in between fields and meadows. Harry whistles, impressed.

"How'd you even find this place?" she asks.

Skull smirks. "The circus came here a few months ago. I figured we could use it now."

Harry grins in anticipation as she puts her helmet on.

Driving a bike is, in one word, _amazing_. The powerful machine under her roaring, the wind pressing against her, the ground flying underneath the wheels. It's like she's flying, it's _better_ than flying, it feels like she could take on the whole world on her bike. She (and Skull on her shoulder) whoop loudly as Harry tears over the concrete like it's going out of style.

It's instinctual. She already knows the bike inside out. And her body just seems to know just what she can do with it, and how to do it.

"That," Harry breathes when she and Skull sprawl on the meadow after hours of driving. "Was the bomb."

"Mmm," Skull hums contentedly from where he's using her stomach as a pillow. "You don't suck."

"Nope," she agrees. "I'm awesome."

"Of course! You're my student!" Skull puffs up in pride and Harry giggles.

"Y'know, I've been wondering," she says. "Why'd you take me as a student? You didn't really like me at first."

"Oh, that," Skull shrugs. "Your speech was inspiring, but most of all, it was 'cuz you wanted to learn from _me_."

"That's it?" Harry frowns a bit.

"You're the first one who ever wanted to."

"Seriously?"

Skull shrugs again. "I'm kinda the joke of the Arcobaleno, y'know? I mean, I'm awesome and like, the best-looking baby _ever_ , but I'm not a fighter like the others. Colonello-senpai and Reborn-senpai bully me and call me lackey, the others are kinda indifferent. Well, Viper is nice unless money is involved."

"They bully you?" Harry asks, frowning.

"Kick me and call me lackey and stuff," Skull confirms.

"That's not very nice," she says quietly. "I dunno, Colonello's always been cool with me, and Reborn is terrifying but seemed alright, too, so I guess I'm a bit surprised?"

Skull snorts. "I say they bully me, but really, they're family. All of them are. Y'know, I hated them when we first met. They were arrogant snobs, and back then they really _were_ assholes. So I ran off 'cuz nobody treats the Great and Immortal Skull-sama like that, and guess what? I got myself captured by some asshole Family."

"No way! How'd you get out of that?" Harry asks with wide eyes.

"I didn't." Skull smirks at her. "Reborn, Colonello, and Lal came in guns blazing and got me out. Told those fuckers that 'nobody chains their Cloud and lives to tell about it'. It was awesome. They trained me in some stuff afterwards, too. And I'm pretty sure the circus is under their protection as well, not that they ever mentioned it, but I've heard rumours. Viper is watching over our finances, too."

"That's so cool," Harry breathes.

"Yep, but don't tell them, they're going to be smug for days if they ever hear." Skull snorts. "Anyway, Reborn is a world-renowned trainer, and so are Colonello, Lal, and Fon. Verde and Viper've got hundreds of people asking to apprentice with them all the time, too. But me? You're the first one to ever pick me to learn from. No one ever picks me. And definitely not when they've got the option to learn from the others."

"That's dumb. You're the shit, sensei," Harry says decisively.

Skull laughs. "I know! Are those idiots, like, blind or something?"

"Must be," she agrees. "I saw you do your stuff and decided I wanted to learn from you and nobody else. 'cause you seemed so _free_ and _fearless_ , and not even gravity seemed to apply to you, and you made people smile and you looked like you were _exactly_ where you wanted to be and doing what you love and I want to be like that."

There's a lull in the conversation then in which Harry closes her eyes and enjoys the sun on her face. Then Skull speaks again, only his voice sounds sort of different now, making her crack an eye open in slight confusion.

"And here I thought you wanted to learn the secrets of magic from me."

" _WHAT?!"_ screeches Harry.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے


	13. 062 - 065

**062 - Harry's teacher: The Other One**

Skull looks at her calmly. He'd long since taken off the helmet, and Harry can see his purple eyes clearly. Only they seem different now, far older. And his posture is off, too. Skull normally holds himself proudly like he owns the world. Now, he holds himself like some sort of noble.

"You're one of _them_?" she asks warily.

"Ah, my dear Harry," he says. "I used to be a wizard, yes."

Her eyebrows draw together. "You aren't Skull, are you."

"And you are far brighter than most give you credit for, my dear child," Not-Skull answers.

"Where's Skull," Harry demands, not reacting to the flattery. Her fingers twitch, readying her mosquitoes.

"I _am_ Skull, and he is I," the unkown replies, with a calm smile that makes Harry uncomfortable. "But it is not the only name I have gone by over the course of my existence. For simplicity's sake, you may call me Beedle. Beedle the Bard. Perhaps you have heard of me?"

"No," Harry grounds out shortly.

"No, I would not think so. Pity that you were raised by muggles, but it is no fault of your own. The betters of the Wizarding World have long since used the supression of knowledge in order to gain control of those who might one day usurp them." Not-Skull gives her a smile that strikes Harry as rather patronising. "But of course, I am in a position to correct the mistake now."

Harry's fists clench. "Look, I don't know who you think you are, Mr. Beedle, but I think you should leave now. Skull and I were having a nice conversation."

"Ah, but of course you cannot understand, with your background." He nods to himself. "Yes, I see. I shall tell you my story so that you may understand better."

What the hell. Is that guy even _listening_ to her?! Harry has the urge to hit this Beedle fellow, but that's still Skull's body! And she needs to know where Skull went. Time, she needs to buy time.

"...Let's hear it then," she says tersely.

"Very well, child." He smiles like he knew all along that she would agree to listen. "My story begins long before my birth. It begins with three brothers by the names of Antioch, Cadmus, and Ignotus Peverell, the last of which was my great-great-grand uncle."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **063 - Harry's teacher: The story of Beedle the Bard**

"It was during the 13th century. Antioch, Cadmus, and Ignotus Peverell were members of the Noble House of Peverell, but that wasn't all they were," Beedle starts. "Antioch, the eldest, and the heir to the House, was the best wand-maker of his generation, and also an excellent duelist for he knew a great many spells and his knowledge of the intricacies of wandlore helped him a great deal in his duels. Cadmus, the second-eldest, was a scholar who had delved deep into magical theory and sought to unravel the mysteries of death, and in his quest for knowledge had achieved a mastery in necromancy unheard of before and after him. Ignotus, the youngest, was not blessed with their genius, but had a rare talent for enchanting objects, which he became quite famous for."

13th century. Well hell. That was ages ago. Harry frowns. This Ignotus guy was Beedle's great-great-grand uncle, right? Then did that mean that Beedle was _that_ old?

He continues, oblivious to her thoughts.

"The three brothers were quite close despite their vast differences in character. And so, one day, they chose to travel the land together. And doing so, they happened to witness a magical Flare. Of couse, you are not knowledgeable in this subject, so let me explain.

"Magic isn't just generated in wizards and witches. No, the Earth itself produces magic, and in some places in vast quantities. Those places are called Springs of Magic, and most magical schools and manors are built on ones, since the magic-saturated country attracts magical beings and plants, and can also supply wards with power. A Flare is different - a short event in which magic in its purest form is expelled from the Earth in one burst, much like a vulcano or geyser."

"And the brothers saw one. Awesome," Harry says.

Beedle doesn't pick up on her sarcasm. "Quite, though I wouldn't have put it so crudely. Back to the tale now.

"The three brothers, exceptional wizards as they were, were blessed with the sight of this spectacle, this unimaginable power. And thus, they decided to harnessit. Antioch, the eldest, guided a third of the magic into a magical elder tree nearby, which burnt and disintegrated to large parts. Cadmus, the second-eldest, condensed another third of the magic into a tool of his, an enchanted gemstone. Upon contact with the magic, it shrunk and turned grey and dark. Ignotus, the youngest, guided the remaining third of the magic into a roll of fabric, and its colour and texture changed.

The three brothers spoke at length about the event they had witnessed, and parted ways soon after to study their objects. Antioch carved a wand from the remains of the elder tree, a wand of unimaginable power. Cadmus, whose gemstone had previously enabled him to communicate with the deceased, found that he could now use it to call the spirits into the realm of the living. And Ignotus fashioned himself a cloak from his magic-saturated fabric, a cloak that could make him invisible to the world.

"But alas, the two eldest soon found their ends. Antioch, with his love of dueling, found himself famous and hailed as the strongest wizard after winning a number of duels with his new powerful wand. And during a night of celebrating yet another win, he found himself drugged and questioned about the secret of his success. His wand was soon stolen from him, and he was left for dead.

Cadmus, who had delved deep into the study of Death's realm, took his own life as the spirit of an evil witch seduced him and convinced him to join her in death after giving the stone to her descendant, a man who would soon become a Dark Lord under the guidance of said witch. Ignotus later slew him, but that is another story for another day..."

"What happened to Ignotus?" Harry asks, drawn into the story despite herself.

"He lived a long and mostly peaceful life, blessed with a son, who eventually had a daughter, Iolanthe. Upon her marriage, the House of Peverell was absorbed into the House of Potter, which thankfully was blessed with more children. And eventually I was born."

"We're still somewhere in the Middle Ages, right?" Harry asks for clarification.

"In the 15th century," Beedle nods. "I was a studious child, but also a quite gifted and charismatic wizard, which secured me the place of Heir Potter upon my fifteenth birthday. And with that status, I was granted access to our House's sacred treasures. And while exploring them, I came upon the three brother's notes and travel journals, and found myself intrigued.

"The idea of so large an amount of magic condensed into objects so small, the entirety of a magical Flare inside three things... And three is such a powerful magical number as well. I theorised that if those objects were gathered together, it would cause a magical discharge, one that would naturally seek a vessel. Which might well be a wizard's or witch's body, as those are natural vessels for magic. And thus, the wizard would become incredibly powerful."

Harry frowns a bit. It seems to her as if Beedle's Flare-magic is quite a different pair of shoes than the Mist Flame magic Verde spoke off. She doesn't think it'd end well to have both things mix.

"I became obsessed with the thought of gathering all the objects in my hands, of achieving that much power. And as it was custom back then, upon reaching adulthood, I set out travelling to 'find myself', only I actually went to find the stone and the wand. The cloak was already in my possession then, as it was a family heirloom.

"It took me years, but I succeeded. And my theory proved true. A magical discharge occured, and I became the vessel of a great deal of power. Only, the power changed me."

"Changed you how?" Harry asks.

"It changed my magic to something _other_ , something not magic, something I only decades ago learnt was called 'Cloud Flames'. To me, it was a devastating loss. Without magic, I could not be Head of House, I was a squib through no one's fault but my own. I stepped down as Heir with no explanation, and decided to spend the remainder of my life in a small cottage that used to belong to an aunt of mine, and study history so that I might be at least of some use to my family. Only, I noticed I didn't age. I healed abnormally fast from my wounds."

Harry blanches in realisation. Immortality. The Great and _Immortal_ Skull-sama.

"What was my life worth, without my magic? I attempted various ways of killing myself, all unsuccessful. I tried to destroy wand, stone, and cloak, to no avail. I confided in a cousin of mine, who attempted to destroy them with powerful magical spells, but even Fiendfyre and the Killing Curse yielded no results. And I finally realised what a mistake I had made, what my thirst for power had earned me.

"I decided to atone. To prevent the occurence of another becoming like me. My first action was to write a book - a book of children's tales. There had always been rumours of the three objects, and people searching for them, the wand especially. In one of my tales, I told of the three brothers, and how they were gifted by Death himself with wand, stone, and cloak, for it was my hope that eventually they would come to be seen as a fairy tale for children. I included warnings against gathering them all, described dire consequences for tangling with Death, too. For the other stories, I wrote tales of morals and tolerance for muggles, warnings against Dark Arts. Alas, over the course of time, the stories were altered and rewritten to suit those in power's worldview, and my warnings were lost. But I like to believe they did some good. For most people, what came to be known as the Deathly Hallows, are objects from children's tales, and that, I believe, is a success.

"As for the Hallows themselves... the Cloak went back to my family. The Stone I inserted into a magical ring, and my cousin confunded the Head of House Gaunt that it was a treasured Heirloom of Salazar Slytherin himself, so that it would be guarded jealously. The Gaunts were enemies of the Potters, and so with the Stone under their protection, it would not be reunited with the Cloak. The Wand, I gave to a duelist, and it continued to change hands soon after until it could no longer be tracked. And thus, the three Hallows would never be reunited again."

Well, at least he had done _something_ right.

"What did you do then?" Harry asks. "What about Skull?"

"I left House Potter soon after. I found others who were long-lived like me - Nicholas Flamel and his wife, for example. I travelled the world and learned about it. I was, still am, a scholar at heart, and so I set my mind to unraveling the mysteries of magic.

"But eventually, the weight of the years became too much for me to carry. I did not have a companion like Nicholas, and I was not invested in my craft like Talbot, another long-lived one. And so, when it got too much, when the weight of the years became too heavy, I created Skull - a blank slate for me, one that knew nothing of magic, one that was unburdened, that could live for me while I lay dormant until such a time I was ready to resume my life again. Skull had Nicholas and Perenelle watching out for him, so I knew it would be alright.

"But it wasn't. I had forgotten about a certain thing. Once, I managed to avoid being struck with the Arcobaleno's Curse. But Skull was not so knowledgeable. And so we were cursed into this form. I secretly rejoiced though, for this might finally be a way to end my existence, miserable way to go though it might be. But a few years back, Nicholas sent a message - that he had found a way to end my immortality by way of a ritual that would drain one of the Hallows of magic which would then be guided back into the Earth. This would then, by the tie I and the Hallows share, weaken my Flames so that I would age normally again. Too late for that now, I suppose... and the Hallows are lost, anyway. The Cloak should have been within your belongings or your Gringotts Vault, but it wasn't."

Harry's fists are clenched, her jaw locked, as she stares at him with rising ire. He speaks on obliviously.

"Of course, it is not certain that I will die from the Arcobaleno's Curse. My power is vast enough that I might be in service much longer than the regular Arcobaleno... it would be safer to conduct the ritual as a failsafe." Beedle looks at her. "This is the first reason I revealed myself to you: I need you to find or steal one of the Hallows from whoever has them now."

Harry stares at him. And can only get one word out.

"No."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **063 - Harry's teacher: A selfish man  
**

"Ahh, of course." Beedle the Bard, Master of Death, formerly known as Fendrel Potter chuckles. He'd forgotten that the child before him was so tragically ignorant of her heritage. "Nothing in life is for free, after all, but family is everything, is it not?"

"What do you mean?" she demands hotly.

"We are family, I told you, I am of House Potter, which you are the Heir of."

Granted, she's inadequate now, but under his guidance, she would flourish. And there wouldn't be much issue once he ensured that she married well, a Pureblood second-born son would do, he supposed, one who could take the Potter name. The Weasleys had always been blessed with many sons, one of them should do. Or perhaps a Longbottom on second thought. Noble as they were, they would ensure that House Potter retained its values. The Weasleys were an uncouth lot, though bravery was their redeeming trait.

"And of course, I have yet to tell you the second reason for revealing myself to you. I am privy to the grandest secrets of magic, my knowledge is vast, and under my guidance, you could rule the Wizarding World and restore House Potter back to its former glory. I have unraveled mysteries that could grant you power beyond your wildest dreams. And I wish to ensure that my knowledge, gathered over _centuries_ , is not lost. To put it simply, you have proven yourself worthy of being the heir to my knowledge."

"Worthy," she echoes. He frowns a bit. Does she not understand the honour? The _privilege_ , especially for a _female_? Clearly, he had much to teach her.

"But of course, my dear," he says. "You are worthy because you, unlike many others, do not seek power, and thus you are worty of holding it, for you will not abuse it."

And she is kind-hearted to a fault. She would not go mad from power.

"And I'm guessing I have to get you one of the Hallows before you teach me?" she asks, not commenting on his praise.

"Apprenticeship has to be earned, it is a tradition of magic," he explains slowly. "I am not asking for much."

Really, some wizards made their apprentices their slaves and did not offer any great knowledge even after decades of apprenticeship - even in this day and age. And here he is offering the secrets, the truths of the world, for only one task, and she wouldn't appreciate it. The muggles had corrupted her, obviously. The first thing he would educate her in was proper conduct and appreciation of magical culture.

"Well, I'm saying no."

"Very well, then we shall start- excuse me?"

"You heard me," she snaps. And _glares_ at him. _Him_ , who had lived for centuries, who had mastered Death!

"I do not think you understand-" he begins tightly.

"I understand perfectly," she cuts in coldly. "You are a selfish, _selfish_ old man. You think you can control me, make me into this picturebook little witch, that can live the life you'll never have because your thirst for power ended up fucking up your life."

"You are my legacy-"

"I'm not your anything!" she shouts, jumping up, glaring down at him. "And all you're asking me to do is _kill my friend and teacher Skull_!"

This ignorant, spoilt, little- "I _created_ Skull, he is nothing more than a front-"

"He's a person!" she yells. "A kind, wonderful, brave _person_! He saved an octopus from a restaurant, he founded the Cloud Circus, a refuge for those seeking shelter from the Mafia, he has friends who love him! He faces Mafia life everyday without any of your oh-so-great knowledge and power, after knowing only a civilian life! He's cursed into child form, and yet he faces everyday with a smile! While _you_ are a coward! What did you do? You wrote a book, big deal. There's nothing I want to learn from you!"

"I'm offering you the secrets of the universe, Harriet Potter!"

"I don't want the secrets of the universe!" she roars back. "I want to be a thief and I want to drive a bike, and I want be Hayato's friend! I picked Skull as my teacher, not you, I'd never have picked you! And I don't give two shits about House Potter!"

"How _dare_ you-"

"But," she breathes, angrily glaring at him. "I do give a shit about Skull, he doesn't deserve to live forever, that would be _horrible_ for him. So I'll find a Hallow, and this Nicholas can do the ritual. In exchange, you go back to sleep or whatever, and let Skull live out the rest of _his_ life. Your time is officially over."

"My secrets-"

"Shove them up your arse," she snarls. "That's the deal. We're going to put it on paper, too, a binding contract. That Nicholas is a wizard, right? I know there are spells for making people forget things. You wanted to die, so Nicholas can erase you by taking the memories of Beedle away and leaving only Skull. There, you die. Rejoice."

"That is not an option! I cannot pass on if you don't-"

"It's your only option."

"All that I've worked for-"

"Get over yourself," she snarls. "All you've done, you did for you. Gathering the Hallows? Because you wanted power. Writing the book and scattering the Hallows? That's to alleviate the guilt of messing with what shouldn't have been messed with. Seeking knowledge? For your own pleasure. That thing with restoring House Potter? You just want to feel like you accomplished _something_. Creating Skull? Because you're coward, and as soon as you sniff an opportunity to have some power again through me, you'd put him away again like some tool. You have not changed at all from the guy who got obsessed over gathering the Hallows. The only good thing about you is Skull. Now go back to sleep so he can come back. You make me sick."

She turns sharply, striding over to her bike. Beedle stares at her back.

Perhaps she is right.

Perhaps it is time for him to disappear. There is nothing left for him here.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **065 - Harry's teacher: Conclusion**

There's a thump behind Harry, and an indignant squeak. She turns around.

"Skull-sensei?" she asks hesitantly.

"Augh!" is her answer. Harry strides back over and picks him up.

"Are you alright?" she asks quietly. "You _are_ Skull, right?"

"Who else would I be," Skull grumbles while making himself comfortable in her arms.

"Well..."

"Ah, the Other Guy took over? Jackass," growls Skull.

"I know, right? I told him so. In more words," Harry says.

"Good girl." He pats her arm. "C'mon, let's drive another round."

Harry smiles, her ire fading. "Yeah. I'd love that. And welcome back, Skull-sensei."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **A/N: So here the grand reveal of Skull. Hope you liked it. Thankfully, we won't be seeing much of Beedle.**

 **Next chapter, a shortage of Harry-induced chaos is corrected!**


	14. 066 - 071

**066 - A shortage of Harry-induced chaos in a number of people's lives is corrected: A friendly (?) kidnapping  
**

Harry gets kidnapped a week later. It's a pretty friendly kidnapping, though, Harry doesn't actually notice she got kidnapped until after a few hours of sitting in the car.

Hayato might be onto something about her lack of social awareness. Then again, being kidnapped is not a common social situation, so how would she even recognise it?

Anyway, this is how it happened: She was playing with Skull's partner, the adorable little octopus Oodako, when Squalo showed up and told her to get into his car. Which she did after pinning a note to Oodako's aquarium.

...In retrospect, she probably should've asked what he wanted her for before getting into the car, but only hindsight is twenty-twenty. Actually, she isn't even sure she has twenty-twenty eyesight, she's got to squint a lot these days, maybe she should get Shamal to check her eyes when she next - haha - sees him?

And damn her short attention span.

Anyway. Two hours into driving it occurs to her that she might be in the process of getting kidnapped and that she has no idea where they're going. In her defence, she isn't really tied up or gagged or drugged and all those kidnapping-characteristic things, so it's actually quite surprising that she even got the idea that getting into a car with a man who drives her to who knows where might constitute as a being kidnapped.

She chances a look at Squalo whose face is quite thunderous. And he's been awfully quiet.

"Is this a kidnapping?" she asks finally.

"If it were, would I tell you, shitty brat?" he asks back after throwing her an Annoyed Look.

"No?" Harry blinks. "Or maybe you would pass it off as a joke. Or you could pretend to be friendly, but that'd be so out of character I'd get suspicious. So you'd probably be your usual arsehole self, not that I can judge that all that well, I've only met you twice and I was asleep most of the time and the rest we were yelling at each other, because as previously stated, you're an arsehole. Anyway, back to the question, you seem like a fairly straight-forward sort, so you probably _would_ tell me. And don't think I haven't noticed that you evaded the question. Is this a kidnapping or not?"

"IT'S A RESCUE FROM YOUR OWN FUCKING STUPIDITY, YOU SHITTY BRAT!" Squalo's hand hits the wheel. Not the sword-hand, though. That would be kinda stupid and destroy it - the wheel, not the sword-hand that is. Actually-

"How can you even drive?" Harry asks with a dubious look his hand. "You've got a sword instead of a left hand. Doesn't that get, I dunno, _inconvenient_?"

"Fucking Varia Quality, idiot!" He slaps the back of her head. Not with the sword-hand.

"Ouch!" She glares at him. "The fuck is wrong with you, arsehole!"

"Voi! Language!"

"Screw you!"

"Ya think I'm a fucking pedophile!"

"Well you're the one kidnapping me, and oh my fucking god, this _is_ a kidnapping isn't it!" She glares at him.

"And you only notice NOW!"

"Well how would I know?!" she shrieks. "It's not like you told me, which by the way, dick move, you fucknugget!"

He hits her over the head again. "That's no way to address your damn commanding officer, brat!"

"What the fuck I don't have a commanding officer! And stop hitting me! That's abuse, pedo shark!"

"Language and I'm not a fucking pedo! VOI!"

"Then why're you bloody kidnapping me!"

" _NOW_ you ask!"

"Well I wasn't sure if this was a goddamn kidnapping or not!" Harry gestures wildly.

"Anybody takes you somewhere and keeps you there without your fucking consent, it's a kidnapping, you fucking idiot! And kidnapping's _bad_! VOI! I feel my IQ dropping just being near your idiot self!" Squalo pinches the bridge of his nose with his normal hand. If he hadn't just called her stupid, she'd feel sorry for him, but she's pissed, so his headache has only just begun.

"So you're taking me somewhere and keeping me there. And you admit that that's _bad_." Harry gives him a flat stare. "THEN WHY ARE YOU FUCKING DOING IT!"

"LANGUAGE!"

"SCREW YOU, LORD OF PEDO SHARK SHIT!" She pauses. "I feel like we've had this part of the conversation before."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT! FUCKING _VOI_!"

"Are you talking about _Lord Little Piece of Shit_ or _Pedo_ _Shark_?" Harry asks reasonably. "Also, does that _VOI_ thing mean anything, because it makes you sound stupid, Lord of Little Pedo Shark Pieces of Shit."

He hits her again. "WILL YOU JUST FUCKING SHUT UP!"

"YOU KIDNAP AND HIT ME, I'M CERTAINLY NOT MAKING IT FUCKING COMFORTABLE FOR YOU!" Harry yells back. "Also, you get to deal with Hayato when he finds out. This is so not my fault."

"Whatever! Voi! Can't be any worse than _you!"_

Haha, yeah right. Harry wonders if Squalo will still be saying that after one of Hayato's Guilt Trips From Hell.

"So what was that about a commanding officer?" she asks.

"You're joining the Varia," he says flatly.

"No, really, what did you mean?" she repeats.

"Are you fucking deaf."

Harry starts laughing. "Ya shoulda become a comedian! Starring tonight: Pedo Shark, Grand Lord of Shit!"

"STOP FUCKING CALLING ME THAT!" Harry is kind of impressed. She thought only dogs could foam at the mouth. She had been wrong. Sharks can do it, too.

"Which do you mean? Lord of Shit, Pedo Shark, or comedian?" she asks back, horribly amused. This is almost as good as riding her bike.

Squalo pauses. "Fuck. If I answer, I'll be called that for the rest of my life," he realises.

"Aww, you know me so well!" Harry chirps. "This is such a beautiful friendship! We can braid each other's hair, do our nails, gossip over-"

"Don't you ever SHUT THE HELL UP!" shouts a horrified Squalo.

"Speaking of which, what's your secret for full and shiny hair? What shampoo do you use?" Harry is genuinely interested. Squalo's hair is _awesome_. Her own is too, but not as... swishy.

Squalo doesn't answer, but his eye twitches tellingly.

"Never mind, I'll figure it out myself." Harry smiles at him. "Hey! Did you know I can't sing at all? I can make cats cry with my singing! Wanna hear?"

"I am going to fucking knock you out if you don't shut up."

"DON'T STOP BELIEEVINNNGG-" Harry sings loudly and completely off-key.

She spends the rest of the car ride unconscious.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **067 - A shortage of Harry-induced chaos is corrected: The Arrival**

Harry wakes up just as they drive up to a large, kind of gloomy-looking mansion. Behind them, an iron gate slams shut which does nothing to help Harry's mood. She does not like it when people assume doors have any sort of Harry-holding power. Who do they think she is?

"Nice timing," she says caustically. "I woke up just as we arrived. Got practice hitting little girls, pedo shark?"

"Voi! You should've fucking slept three hours more!" Squalo shouts.

"Tough shit!" she snaps.

"Watch the fucking language!"

"Go to hell!"

The car slams to a stop. "Respect your fucking commanding officer!"

"I'm not joining the bloody Varia! I already said no!"

Squalo gets out of the car. So does Harry. She glares at him as he stalks over, towering over her. "Deal with it, shitty brat!"

"Screw you!"

"I'm not a fucking pedo!"

"You're the one abducting the ten-year old girl!" Harry rolls her eyes at him. "And we're talking in circles again!"

"NOT MY FUCKING FAULT!"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT FROM ME! AND WHERE THE _FUCK_ ARE WE!"

A smug smirk, because Squalo is a _rotten_ arsehole, spreads over his annoying face that doesn't deserve the pretty hair growing from the head it's on. Harry glares at him. "Varia HQ, Florence," he says. "Your new home."

"And _how_ in the seven circles of hell did you get that utterly fucking stupid idea?" Harry asks as politely as she can.

Squalo points accusingly at her. "VOI! BECAUSE I OFFERED YOU MEMBERSHIP AND YOU WENT AND TOOK UP WITH THAT IDIOT STUNTBABY!"

"SKULL'S THE SHIT!" Harry shouts back. "HE'S NICE AND FUNNY AND HE HAS AN OCTOPUS!"

"VOI! VARIA IS THE FUCKING BEST OF THE WORLD!"

"I'M NOT JOINING!"

"YOU DON'T GET A FU-VOIEEEK!"

Harry punches him in the nuts mid-curse, vaults over the car, and runs into the mansion for a lack of any other hiding spaces, Squalo's curses, now an octave higher, echoing behind her.

...The mansion's door might need a better lock, Harry's picked it in barely a second, just in time to squeeze inside and slam the door shut in Squalo's face before he can grab her.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **068 - A shortage of Harry-induced chaos is corrected: Illusions**

Inside is an elegant entrance hall in which three young men in Varia uniform, obviously in the process of running errands, have frozen up and now stare at her with stunned gazes. She's pretty sure it has something to do with Squalo's vicious curses and death threats.

"Excuse me, I seem to have gotten lost," she says. "Would you mind terribly pointing me to the back exit?"

A sword stabs through the door.

"Nevermind!" she yelps and runs down the first corridor she sees. Up the stairs, left, right, hmm, she's probably lost. This place is a bit of a maze. Okay, this is the main building, so it's probably where Squalo and Sorella and the other commanding officers live, while the grunts reside in the surrounding buildings. Okay. _Hopefully_ that means that there aren't a lot of people she can run into.

"STOP RIGHT THERE YOU SHITTY BRAT!" Squalo roars behind her.

"YOU SHALL NEVER CATCH ME ALIVE, PEDO SHARK!" Harry screams back, using Mist to distort the sound to hide her location. She runs along a corridor straight into a training room. A training room with a window. She almost mows the man training inside over in her bid to reach it. "Sorry!" she shouts! "Cool hair, did you get struck by lightning?"

"HOW _DARE_ YOU-" the man starts, but Harry is already out the window. A look down shows her a bunch of blank faces staring up at her, so she just climbs up a floor into another window - annoying booby traps, damn wires and knives, nope, let's try another window - into a gloomy hall. It's mostly empty, all dark wood, black walls, black drapes she has to part to actually climb inside. And it's freezing cold despite the pleasant warmth of summer outside.

The drapes fall shut behind her, and in the darkness, green candles flare to life. Somehow, they seem to make the room even darker and colder. Frost starts creeping up the walls and her feet.

Harry's mosquitoes fly from her pockets and hair and draw a cloak of fire and light around her, holding the frost back - it's just an illusion, she knows that, but that doesn't make it any less _real_. And Harry has never actually faced another illusionist before, certainly never fought one. If there is going to be a battle, Harry won't be the winner. She reaches for the drapes behind her to exit the way she came, but her fingers only meet stone.

She's already caught in the illusion. This is so not good.

"What is your purpose here, child?" a voice asks, and when Harry blinks, there's a small figure floating before her and she can't for the life of her figure out how she overlooked it before.

"I don't know," she answers cautiously. "I'm not here because I want to be."

"Escape will cost you," the figure answers. Is it an Arcobaleno? Harry is almost sure, but she's also caught inside an illusion, so she can't be sure of _anything_.

"Do you mean money or something else?" she asks.

"Money shall suffice." Harry breathes a sigh of relief and draws out her purse. For once, things are simple. Some money, done. No evil extortion and magical bullshit or anything. "How much?"

The illusionist (or maybe the illusion of the illusionist, who's to know) rattles off a sum that makes even Harry who has never cared much about money choke on her spit. "...do you take credit cards?" she asks, because no sane being would carry that much cash with them.

Harry privately resolves to break into Squalo's room and rob him blind because this is all his fault, he can pay for this.

"Of course," the illusionist answers. The transaction is completed moments later, but the illusion doesn't fade quite yet.

"I'm Harry," Harry says tentatively.

"I am well aware of your identity," is her answer.

And here she had been glad for a lack of magical bullshit. Dammit.

"So what's your name?" she asks. A small hand is held out. It takes Harry a second to understand what the illusionist is getting at, but then she rolls her eyes and slaps a few bills into the hand.

"I am called Mammon," Mammon informs her blandly.

"Hi," Harry greets again. "You're the Varia Mist."

Mammon nods curtly.

"Uh... so can you drop the illusion?" Harry asks. "Because I do have places to be, I think, and this whole kidnapping thing got old like five hours ago, so... yeah."

"VOI! MAMMON YOU FUCKING MISER MIDGET!" Squalo's voice shouts from outside, rapidly coming closer.

"Case in point," Harry says dryly while looking around for a hiding place, but there's nothing. She tries making herself invisible, but her mosquitoes aren't reacting.

The door's ripped open. "YOU SEEN A SHITTY BRAT RUNNING AROUND?!"

Squalo doesn't see her standing right next to Mammon.

Mammon holds out a hand. Squalo growls in annoyance and slaps a few bills into their hand. "Fucking miser," he growls under his breath.

"No," Mammon says. "I have not seen Belphegor. Did you not send him away to 'learn some damn discipline'?"

"I'm not fucking talking about _that_ shitty brat! The other one! Red-head, green eyes, shitty language, rotten brat!"

"Perhaps you should search elsewhere."

"Just use your fucking snot-search skill!"

The hand is held out again. Squalo growls angrily and forks over even more money. Mammon then sneezes onto a piece of paper.

"WELL?"

Mammon stares at the paper. "The person you seek is..."

"WHERE?" Squalo snaps. Harry holds her breath.

"In the Varia Headquarters," Mammon answers.

"WHICH FUCKING ROOM, VOI!"

"I really cannot say." The snotty paper is handed to Squalo, who looks at it in disgust.

"VOI! YOU'RE FUCKING USELESS!"

"Perhaps you should make sure that this intruder does not enter the top floor," Mammon says blandly. Squalo blanches and runs off.

For a few moments, there's silence.

"Why didn't you rat me out?" Harry asks quietly.

"You paid better."

She blinks. "But isn't he your comrade?"

A hand is held out.

"Nevermind, I still need money for a train ticket," Harry grumbles. "Anyway, thanks. So can you drop the illusion now?"

Mammon rattles of another sum.

"I swear to god," Harry mutters viciously.

"If you do not wish to reimburse me, take the illusion down yourself or remain in this room."

Harry takes a deep breath. "Take the illusion down, alright. _How_?"

She can _make_ illusions. And those she can take down. But these? These weren't made with her Flames. She doesn't even know where to start. Simply disbelieving them won't work, these are much too high-class.

Scowling, she hands over more money.

"Confidence," Mammon says. "All Flames require resolution. But Mist Flames require the user to _believe_ in themselves, to believe with every fiber of their being that the illusion they show is real. You cannot convince another of a reality if you aren't convinced yourself. The moment you believed yourself inferior, the moment you allowed yourself to feel fear and insecurity, you had already lost."

"Oh," says Harry.

"You have much to learn still," Mammon says.

"Obviously," Harry sighs and hands her credit card over once more. At least, money isn't really a problem. Her thievery ensures a pretty good income, then there's the money she got from Vongola as an apology for almost driving her into Discord, and then there's the account the Giglio Nero had set her up with.

The illusion drops, and Harry heads for the window behind her again. "Hey," she suddenly says. "How'd you know who I am?"

"The illusion you use to hide the scar is feeble," Mammon says coldly.

"Are you a witch? Or a wizard?"

"Are you?"

"No." Harry shakes her head. "I don't want to be. That whole world seems like a cage."

"I am no more a witch than you," Mammon says. "Nor a wizard."

Harry nods. "Well, see ya?"

"If you can afford it."

Harry barely hides a wince. "Sure, sure."

And out the window she climbs again.

Now to find the answer to the question that's been bugging her for _hours_ now...

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **069 - A shortage of Harry-induced chaos is corrected: An unconventional weapon**

Harry is not entirely sure how she manages to reach the third floor considering the guys outside have started to shoot at her and she didn't think to use her back-to-being-responsive Mist Mosquitoes for invisibility, but she does manage to slip through another window into a bathroom free of injuries aside from one or two bullet grazes. Or tranq dart grazes, they aren't using lethal force. Which is good.

Not so good is the fact that now _everybody_ knows which bathroom she's in, and which room adjoins. And the adjoining room is full of swords of all sizes. Which means it belongs to Squalo.

On the plus side, it means she has her answer.

"VOI! GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE, YOU SHITTY BRAT!"

Harry strolls out of the bathroom. "L'Oréal?" she asks. "Why?"

"BECAUSE I'M FUCKING WORTH IT, AND YOU ARE ON TOILET DUTY FOR THE NEXT FIVE MONTHS! VOI!"

"That is assuming that you can get me to stay," Harry points out reasonably. "I'm not joining the Varia."

An evil, evil grin spreads over Squalo's face as he lifts his sword-arm. "Oh, you are fucking going to."

"Nope." Harry gives a grin back that's as friendly as his is evil.

The sword whistles through the air and Harry lifts her weapon, a bottle of shampoo. The sword stops inches from it.

"That's what I thought." Harry nods. "You try anything, your shampoo dies."

Squalo's eyebrow twitches. "Are you fucking serious."

"Yep."

"VOI! SUCKS FOR YOU BUT IT'S STILL JUST SHAMPOO!" he screams at her and lifts the sword again.

Harry flicks the cap off the bottle and squirts a shot of shampoo into his eyes. She finishes the move with yet another nut shot, slips past him and out the door into the corridor. "TAKE THAT YOU FUCKING PEDO SHARK!" she screams. "YOU WILL REMEMBER THE DAY THAT YOU ALMOST CAUGHT - OOF!"

"Harry-chan!" Vice-like arms wrap around her. "Your big sister has missed you!"

"Sorella!" Harry squeaks, and shit, she can't move. Or breathe. "Missed you too," she wheezes out, wasting precious air.

"I'm _so_ happy that you're joining our little family! Oh! I can colour-coordinate you and Bel, you'll look _sooooo_ cute together~" Lussuria squeals. "Squ-chaaan~! Look who I found!"

Harry manages to turn her head just a little bit to look at Squalo. "Long time no fucking see, Squ-chan," she wheezes out.

"You're so fucking dead, brat," the man in question says flatly. Lussuria gasps.

"Squ-chan! Watch your language around my darling little sister! And Harry-chan, a lady doesn't curse!"

"His...fault," Harry forces out. "Can't... breathe!"

"Ooopsie~!" Lussuria sets her down. "What's that in your hand, darling?"

"Don't!" Squalo screams.

Harry holds up the bottle. "Squalo's shampoo," she says, sticking out her tongue at Squalo.

Lussuria stares. Then he squeals, rips the bottle out of her hand, and holds it up like the holy grail. "It has been found," he breathes. "You, Harry, have lifted the secret. Oh, you have no idea how long I've wanted to know."

"Err..." Harry says.

"Brat," Squalo growls darkly, his eyes shadowed by his full and shiny hair.

"Yes?"

"Start running."

Harry doesn't need to be told twice.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **070 - A shortage of Harry-induced chaos is corrected: Valerie**

Harry's flight out of the Varia Mansion is a bit of a blur. There are a lot of screams, an incident in the kitchen that involves a lot of knives, a swordfish, a duel with baguettes, and a lot of strawberry sauce, then there's the time she slid down the stairs on a pizza plate, lightning thrown at her by the guy with funky hair she almost ran over earlier, and a weaponised banana peel.

All in all, Harry is having the time of her life.

"YOU'RE SO FUCKING DEAD WHEN I CATCH YOU! FUCKING VOI!"

"GO DIE IN A FUCKING HOLE, LORD OF SHIT!"

"WATCH THE FUCKING LANGUAGE!" ...and that wasn't just Squalo yelling. What the hell. Stupid Varia grunts.

"SCREW YOU! ALL OF YOU!"

Still, Harry is getting exhausted. _They_ are adult men. _She_ is just ten years old. She needs an edge...

Ah.

There it is.

Harry ducks into a door, runs down a few stairs, and looks upon paradise. "Oh, hell _yes_!" she whispers as she skips over the roofs of neatly lined up cars to heaven. "Aren't you pretty? Yes, you are, yes you _are_!" she croons when she arrives in front of _them_.

The _bikes_.

The gorgeous, sleek, Varia Quality _bikes_.

"VOI IF YOU TOUCH ANY OF OUR CARS YOU'RE DEAD!" Squalo roars behind her, but the sight of her is pretty obscured. All the cars and bikes are... taller... than her. Fuck.

Oh well. So what if they're a bit too big for her to ride! She's Hari freaking de Mort, she can _do_ this! Besides, she doesn't carry her collapsible bike helmet around in her bag for nothing!

And hey, there's a bike that is actually her size, what luck! Granted, it's blood red and has little crowns painted on it which looks pretentious as hell, but who cares? It's a _bike_! It looks _fast_! "Your name shall be Valerie and we will be _great_ friends!" Harry whispers, stroking a hand over the handle.

(If anyone had seen the gleam of unholy joy in her eyes, they would have gotten very worried.)

"VOI! THERE YOU ARE! NOW FACE YOUR FUCKING PUN-"

"Ha-HA!" she laughs as she swings a leg over Valerie. "PEACE OUT, SUCKERS!"

"WHAT THE FUCK GET OFF THERE YOU SHITTY LITTLE-"

Harry blasts past Squalo laughing wildly.

Behind her, a motor roars to life.

"SHITTY BRAT THE WHOLE MANSION IS FENCED IN! THERE IS NO ESCAPE FOR YOU!"

"FUCK OFF PEDO SHARK YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET!"

Harry tears up the driveway. The gates come in sight. Harry grins.

She's the student of freaking Skull de Mort, the best stuntman/baby in the world. And the gate isn't even that tall. Harry smirks as she jerks on Valerie's handle and makes the bike jump on a few decorative rocks, rocks that point upwards and allow her to use them as a ramp that catapults her on the rooftop of what looks to be a guard house. She tears over it at full speed and with a whoop drives straight over the edge.

The landing behind the fence is a bit rocky though, and Valerie does not appreciate it. "Sorry, sweetie," Harry whispers under her helmet. Then she grins viciously. "Now let's see how fast you can go."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **071 - A shortage of Harry-induced chaos is corrected: Shark chasing bike**

It turns into a bike chase. And a car chase. And a truck chase. And a shark chase.

Basically, it's a lot of vehicles chasing after Harry on Valerie. Squalo rides on the roof of a car, and Harry is kind of weirded out that the wind doesn't push him off. She also wonders if he isn't getting flies into his mouth since he's not wearing a helmet and screaming a lot at her.

Anyway. She has no idea where she's going. The streets she drives down are narrow hardly used ones, and she hopes that the bigger vehicles at least can't follow her. She _also_ hopes that Squalo will fall off on the bumpy streets.

No such luck.

Argh.

Harry drives over a particularly nasty bump and is airborn for a moment. Valerie protests at the landing, and Harry is sharply reminded that Valerie is not Giacomo, her own bike (so named in honour of her late father James Potter). Valerie is a repectable girl, not an adventurous scoundrel. She was _not_ made for dirt roads.

Harry is _still_ having the time of her life, but she wonders if her pursuers would mind waiting while she found a gas station and refueled Valerie. It's not like she's the only one having fun here, right?

It turns out that it isn't an issue though. One moment Harry drives through an empty field, the next she senses a Mist barrier, and bam! She's in the middle of some sort of tournament. There's people beating each other up with flags, which makes her think that they might have misunderstood the rules of Capture the Flag.

Thank god Harry knows how to do slalom on a bike because if she'd mowed one of them over, Valerie might never have forgiven her. Still, it's probably a good thing people throw themselves to the side, because the Varia certainly don't bother with slalom. Then again, they don't have a Valerie to answer to.

Sadly, it also means that they're catching up. Harry floors it, which means that Squalo gets dirt in his face that her bike kicks up. It does not make him very happy, and he'll probably have to use an entire bottle of his super-special shampoo to get his shiny and swishy hair clean, and he'd probably have to fight Sorella to the death for it.

Serves him right, Harry thinks as she drives until she finds a dirt road. And suddenly she's in the middle of a camping ground and doing slalom _again_ to avoid tents with the added difficulty of avoiding people standing _behind_ tents. "BIKE CHASE COMING THROUGH!" she hollers as loudly as she can. "PEDO SHARK ALERT!"

"VOI! I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!" Squalo shouts behind her.

Some idiot shoots at her and doesn't hit. He does, however, hit Valerie's back wheel.

Harry jumps off and rolls over her shoulder to smooth the landing. Valerie slides right through a tent and into a large metal pillar behind said tent.

She goes out with a bang. _Goodbye, beloved friend, you shall be missed,_ Harry thinks as she tumbles.

Harry rolls a few metres and is stopped by a foot. She looks up and sees startled eyes.

Startled _familiar_ eyes.

Familiar _green_ eyes.

This is when a giant purple octopus crashes into the scene with a helmeted baby standing on top of it shouting loudly, "GIVE ME BACK MY STUDEEEEENT!"

"WHAT," says Hayato.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے


	15. 072 - 076

Last time, Harry and Hayato finally reunited under utterly unlikely circumstances. Before we can arrive at the conclusion to that, let's turn back time a bit...

 **072 - Hayato's wonderful camping adventure: The assembly**

Hayato's arrival at the meeting place for the Storm Camp candidates goes mostly unnoticed. Coyote Nougat gives him a nod, but that's it. Hayato feels kind of useless, standing at the edge of the crowd.

 _"It's an adventure!"_ Harry had told him. " _I bet you're going to have tons and tons of fun and make lots of friends!"_

Yeah right.

He busies himself with studying the crowd. He counts about thirty men and women assembled, more incoming, though those don't make a good impression, late arrivals that they are.

Pretty much all of them are older than him. The few that spare him any attention sneer at Hayato and he makes a mental note to kick their collective asses later. He's already categorising and memorising all their weak points in his head.

 _"You got a shitty temper, kora!"_ Commander Colonello had told him once. _"But you also got a crazy brain! Combine the two and you'll go far, kora!"_

Hayato owes Colonello a great deal. The man had kicked him into shape (literally), given him a job, advice, recommendations, and taught him about the world. Hayato is pretty sure that without him, he'd be short-tempered asshole still.

Silence spreads when Nougat steps onto a podium. His commanding presence still awes Hayato. The man's eyes sweep over the crowd in a way that makes it seem like he's looking at all of them individually. Hayato unconsciously straightens.

Nougat does not welcome them. He does not greet them. Hayato appreciates that. Straight words, he'll take that over fake pleasantries any day.

"You are not here," Nougat begins darkly. "Because you are strong. You are not strong. You are not here because of past accomplishments. They do not matter. You are not here because of recommendations or connections. I do not care for them."

Some people murmur in consternation, others scowl. Hayato swallows down indignation - Colonello had given him similar speeches in between beatdowns.

Nougat stares them down. "You are here because I see potential. Unrealised, unrefined, untapped. You will work hard. You will give your all. With your dying will you will train, or you will leave."

Hayato is pretty sure he means _dying will_ figuratively and not in the Flame sense. Because he doesn't think any of the men and women assembled here have active Flames.

It's something he sort of figured out. When Harry uses her Flames, he feels this tickle at the edge of his mind. Even when she doesn't, there's this sort of awareness that she's something _more_ than normal. It isn't just her, he's felt something like that on Colonello, Shamal, and Nougat too, and he's pretty sure it's their Flames he feels. Not a hundred percent sure, but he'll figure it out soon enough.

Nougat leaves the podium without another word. Before unrest can spread, another takes the stage, a thin man with a scar all over his face. He smirks down at them. Hayato takes an instant dislike to him. "I am Captain Titus of Vongola's Storm forces!" he tells them smugly. "Sadly, we have too many candidates here-"

His speech is cut short by an infernal crash.

"VOI! You're going and that's fucking final!" a vaguely familiar voice shouts.

"The prince doesn't want to! He was well within his royal rights to-"

"I don't give a fucking shit, you shitty prince! VOI! What the fuck is wrong with brats these days!"

Superbi Squalo drags a tied-up boy into the meadow the assembly is held in. "VOI! Nougat!"

"What is the meaning of this," Nougat demands quietly, dangerously. And gets the boy tossed at his feet.

"Shitty prince needs some discipline!" Squalo snarls.

"Does not! Because I'm a prince!" the boy shouts.

"VOI! Shut your trap!"

"Ushishishi, make me!"

"SILENCE!" Nougat thunders. Both males instantly shut up. "Superbi, Belphegor may take part in Storm Camp, but he will receive no special treatment and I am _only_ allowing this because of the atrocious property damage costs he causes."

"That's the fucking _point_ of this!" Squalo yells.

" _Furthermore_ ," Nougat cuts in. "You will pay for all his expenses and compensate for the costs caused by him."

Squalo curses. Hayato makes a mental note to keep him the hell away from Harry. Heaven knows how easily her language can get corrupted.

Captain Titus clears his throat. "As I was saying before I was so uncouthly interrupted-"

"I'll give you uncouth, ratface! VOI!"

"-regrettably, we have too many contenders." Titus gives them an oily smile. "Twenty of you will proceed to the camp. The rest will go home today."

Outraged screams follow. Hayato doesn't bother. Instead, he pulls his combat goggles over his face, and lights a cigarette. His grappling hook gun sits easily accessible in his jacket, and dyamite and other weapons he can pull at a moment's notice.

He casts a look around. The assembly meadow is situated near an abandoned village and a forest next to that. If there's going to be a preliminary test then Hayato would bet that it'll be held there, so he slowly edges over in that direction, careful not to attract attention. He spots a few others doing the same.

Titus speaks again over the noise. "A few miles to the west, there's a bus that'll take you to the camp location. It will seat twenty of you before it leaves." His grin widens. "I suggest you hurry. The bus will leave at noon even not filled to capacity."

Hayato disappears between the houses of the village while most others still stand surprised.

Behind him, he already hears the first sounds of battle.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **073 - Hayato's wonderful camping adventure: The preliminary exam**

Thanks to Harry, Hayato knows the value of rooftops. One, they allow for vantage points and favorable conditions for observations. Two, most people rarely look up, not expecting danger from above. Three, there's not much traffic up there.

Granted, he isn't as insanely good at navigating them as Harry is (who might as well have wings given how she flies over streets and up walls and sees pathways where others see obstacles), but he's certainly a lot better than most. Plus, he has his trusty grappling hook gun.

So it's pretty much a no-brainer to climb on the roofs as soon as he can, and then find a good spot. Which he does, the church tower offers perfect view in every direction. His sniper rifle is quickly assembled and set up.

Hayato always had excellent aim. It's all about numbers and calculations, and that is something he is _very_ good at.

 _There!_ A man is sneaking across a road. Hayato adjusts his aim and shoots. The guy goes down, clutching his leg - Hayato only has to prevent him from moving, there's no need for killing.

And _there_! There's one running over the rooftops, except he isn't careful about it and doesn't bother taking cover. Idiot. Hayato takes care of him, too.

He grins, his blood singing with the excitement of the fight, the feeling of challenge. One more opponent goes down, a woman this time. But then the stream of idiots seems to be over, and when Hayato hears something shuffle below him he decides that a change of location is in order. Packing up the rifle quickly, he fires his grappling hook gun and swings down - after leaving a burning dynamite for whatever idiot thought to sneak up on him. (Hayato is hard to sneak up on. His partner is the sneakiest person he's ever met, so he's got practice being snuck up upon.)

Hurrying over rooftops - the ones that provide some cover in the form of chimneys or convenient walls, at least - Hayato plans his next move. There'd been forty-two contenders. That means that over half of them are going to be cut away. It's safe to say that some would have been knocked out right at the beginning. Then there are the three Hayato just took out, and a fourth one that may or may not be out of the running. The competition is probably already down to thirty considering there _are_ others fighting elsewhere.

It would probably be a good idea to make his way to the bus now.

Something sharp slices through the air to his side and Hayato throws himself down into the streets, rolling over his shoulder to minimise the impact.

"Tch," the attacker hisses above him as he jumps down, too. It's a heavy-set man clad in leather armour, in his hand a broadsword. "Damn lucky brat!" He leers at Hayato. "Why don't I do you a favour and kill you right-"

"Double Bomb!" Hayato growls and throws dynamite.

"Argh!" The man scrambles away before he can get caught in the explosion.

Hayato smirks and throws another dynamite - a small one this time. It hits an empty trashcan and blows it right at his opponent who promptly falls over.

"I'm just gonna put you of your misery now, you piece of shit," Hayato sneers. The man shrieks before Hayato throws a stone at him, promptly knocking him out and possibly giving him a concussion. No point in wasting precious ammunition on him.

He starts running once more, grinning to himself. It's only the beginning... but hell, he can't _wait_ to get to Storm Camp.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **074 - Hayato's wonderful camping adventure: The Bus Ride**

Hayato makes it to the bus with little to no problems. Well, there are some more opponents and a brawl, but nothing he can't handle. Scrapes and bruises are all he suffers. And possibly a sprained ankle, but it doesn't feel that bad and will probably be better tomorrow.

"Gokudera," Nougat greets him, while Captain Titus sneers.

"Sir!" Hayato salutes.

"Well done. I had no doubt you would succeed." Nougat nods in approval, and Hayato glows with pride.

"I did my best, sir!"

Nougat nods and Hayato takes that as dismissal.

Eight people are already inside the bus, including the giggling boy that Superbi Squalo brought. He sits in the far back of the bus like his seat is a throne.

Hayato sits far away from him. Something about that guy isn't _right_.

Which is kind of a given, considering he's probably Varia. Better stay away from him, then.

The bus slowly fills. Hayato is kind of amused at the process - everyone seems to pick the seat that promises the greatest distance from those already inside the vehicle. This goes on until they are actually forced to sit next to someone unless they want to sit on the floor.

Then Hayato is less amused because some idiot sits next to _him_. Some lanky teenager with acne and a mop of brownish hair. "Salutations!" the guy says and sticks his hand out. "Davide is the name!"

Hayato glowers at the hand. It is not retracted. The guy named Davide continues to beam at him, then flops down in the seat next to Hayato. "Might I be told your name, mysterious young stranger?" he asks.

Scowling at the freak, Hayato lights a cigarette. "Smoking Bomb Hayato," he growls out.

"Really!" exclaims Davide. "I had not thought that someone so illustrious would be so young!"

Hayato's hand shoots forward, catches Davide's wandering hand, and twists it. "Argh!" says Davide. "Apologies, good sir! I am but a thief, my hands have wills of their own! I see your reputation is well-deserved!"

"Tch," Hayato snorts and lets him go. "Thief? Don't make me laugh."

Davide bristles a bit. "I am quite close to attaining my mastery!"

"Mastery," Hayato repeats.

"I am a member of an illustrious Thief's Guild," Davide elaborates proudly. "The most powerful one, _Moonlight Shadows_!"

"Whatever," Hayato snorts. "Some master. And," his hand catches Davide's once again. "You try that again, I'll blow your fucking hands off, bastard."

"Oww!" Davide yelps. He's starting to draw looks. "Marvellous, Signor Smoking Bomb! To think you could notice my thievery twice!"

"You fucking suck," Hayato replies derisively. "Mastery, don't make me laugh. My partner could take you anyday."

"And who would this partner be?" Davide asks, sounding miffed. "And which guild do they belong to?"

" _La gazza ladra,_ " answers Hayato, which makes Davide gasp.

"The Magpie! I did not realise! My guild has been trying to contact her to no avail!"

Yeah, Hayato knows. Harry had laughed her ass off at the flowery worded letters she'd gotten from some guilds. Some of them she'd even framed because they sounded so fucking ridiculous.

 _("Steal from the rich and give to the poor," Harry snorts. "Rebel against oppression. Who do they think I am, Robin Hood? Do I look like a fox with bow and arrow?"_  
 _"Harry, that's the Disney Robin Hood."_ )

Hayato decides he's over this conversation and turns to look out the window, trying to convey the strongest message of fuck-the-fuck-off in that simple motion. The bus has set in motion by now. It's not even filled to capacity, there's only eighteen people sitting inside. Less than half made it, then.

"Which guild is she in? It can't be a well-known one!" Davide the sucky thief demands. "Would you put in a good word for our guild? Whatever guild she's a member of, _Moonlight Shadows_ is much more powerful and prestigious! We get the best jobs, the best pay, we're respected the world over!"

( _"That sounds stupid and not very fun." Harry scans the letter. "Also,_ Moonlight Shadows _sounds like an RPG obsessed nerd club. They'll hate me if I accidentally short out their computers!"_  
 _"Harry, you got that wrong.")_

"Being offered an invitation into the guild is a great honour! The Magpie should know that!" Davide continues to spout. "Our guild is quite selective! I had to work very hard to be allowed to join!"

Yeah well, Harry is a damn good thief. Hayato wouldn't partner with just _anyone_.

"Are you even listening?" Davide bristles.

Of course others would see it, Harry's brilliance, and covet it. She'd never join a guild, though. Tying herself down like that, why would she do that? Prestige? Hayato once tried to explain the meaning of the word to her and she kept getting confused over why anyone would want something that sounded so un-fun (her word, not Hayato's). Money? Hayato suppresses a snort of laughter at the mere thought of Harry caring about money. Power? Harry is the least power-hungry person in the world. All she wants is to be free, have lots of fun, and be friends with Hayato.

Davide hits Hayato's shoulder. "Listen when I speak, imbecile!"

Hayato shoves him out of his seat. Davide tumbles to the ground. "Shut up and fuck off!" he snarls, glaring at the guy. "You tried to steal from me twice and I don't even give a flying fuck about your diatribe. You wanna start something?" He pulls out dynamite. Not the most practical weapon in a bus, but the intimidation factor is pretty high. "Go the fuck ahead, asshole."

Davide pales and starts sweating. "N-no, of course not, I-I'll sit somewhere else!" He scrambles away. Hayato sneers after him. God, he'd thought there'd be some capable, tolerable people here. But that was _pathetic._

He misses Harry already. Okay, only a bit, Harry-induced stress is something he _might_ need a break from. But her presence and company, her laughter, that's something he doesn't like missing from his life. Also, who knew what she'd get up to without anyone (him) there to stop her.

Ah well, it'd be fine. It was only two months and she'd said she'd do some training herself.

Nodding to himself, he looks through his pack. He'd packed himself some sandwiches and the earlier action had made him kinda hungry.

"What the fuck," he mutters.

His normal red lunchbox has been replaced by a sparkly rainbow-coloured one. His eyelid twitches, but his annoyance is quickly washed away by the utterly delicious smell coming from inside and the note falling out. _"Made you a yummy lunch! Have fun at Storm Camp and make lots of friends! Love, Harry!"_

It's even Japanese food. Perfectly shaped onigiri _that look like grenades_ , vegetables cut and arranged to look like _dynamite_ and _guns_. Fish and meat and sauce. Harry had to have stayed up for ages to make it for him. He grins and digs in.

"Ushishishi," a disconcerting giggle comes from next to him. "The prince is _hungry_."

It's the Varia kid.

Hayato glares and holds his food closer. "So?"

"Give the prince food, peasant." A wide grin plays around the kid's face, and oddly shaped knives dance in his fingers.

"Get your own, asshole!" Hayato snaps.

"That's what the prince is doing, ushishishi!" The grin widens, and Hayato reaches for his dynamite, a feral glare on his face.

Then the guy's stomach growls.

Perfectly epic battle atmosphere ruined. Knife-boy's grin slips. Hayato rolls his eyes and takes out a grenade-shaped onigiri instead of a dynamite. "Just sit, idiot," he snaps and pushes the item at the guy.

Harry would have hit him if she heard he'd let someone go hungry when Hayato had more than enough food. She's kind of sensitive about that.

"The prince will not take orders from a peasant!" Knife-boy declares haughtily. "He will, however, take the onigiri."

"Weirdo," Hayato mutters under his breath will the Varia boy stalks off, munching on a rice grenade. "What the fuck're you staring at, huh?" he demands when he notices _the entire bus_ staring at him in a stupor.

Fucking freaks, all of them.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **075 - Hayato's wonderful camping adventure: Storm Camp**

After an annoyingly long bus ride over numerous dirt roads - something that two men in the back do not appreciate, whining about motions sickness for _ages_ until someone shuts them up with blunt objects to the heads - they get dropped off at the camp ground. Lots of tents, outdoor showers, a fireplace, some other shit, Hayato is feeling thoroughly underwhelmed.

Then again, it's not like he was expecting a hotel.

Captain Titus, rat-like grin on his face, calls them all to attention, because apparently they'll get divided into four teams.

Hayato's already lousy mood drops _far_. He _hates_ dealing with imbeciles, and pretty much everyone here looks like one.

And joy, the teams would get redistributed every two weeks! The imbeciles are interchangeable!

He's just glad he packed enough cigarettes to last him four months instead of two.

The team he's been assigned to consists of one sniper, one martial artist, and an utter loser who likes to believe himself a con artist, and himself. It's pathetically easy to make them accept him as team leader. Ha, and they thought they'd gotten a gopher brat when they looked at Hayato. Think again.

They have a half hour for settling into their tent, then it's training time. Or so Hayato thought. Instead, the four teams are given flags and told to play Capture the Flag.

It's a disaster. Hayato has to take an attacking team out almost by himself because the loser con artist runs away, the martial artist refuses to keep to Hayato's strategy and got taken out as a result, and the sniper then knocks Hayato out from behind.

When he wakes up the sniper has already been told to get lost because Vongola does _not_ telerate backstabbing, and this means Hayato can't even take revenge. Also, the Varia kid apparently won the whole thing by himself. Goes to show, adults are fucking _useless_ and _untrustworthy._

The following days are better though. The teams were mixed up again since there are now only sixteen left (asshole Davide got kicked out, too) and after the brutal game at the beginning people are a bit more humble. For a while anyway. And with the exception of the Varia kid whose name is Belphegor, as Hayato learns.

And damn does that guy _piss him the fuck off_. A smugger bastard he'd never seen. Everytime he beats everyone else - which is pretty much all the time, stupid Varia Quality - he has that irritating grin on his half-obscured face, and he sends it at Hayato _specifically_. Which just raises every hackle Hayato has, and makes him want to _beat_ Belphegor into the ground.

Except it doesn't happen that way, because one evening he finds the kid poisoned on the ground, the members of his team around him with weapons in their hands, and it doesn't take a genius what's going on there. Belphegor hadn't exactly been making friends and all those that had been teamed up with him stayed _the hell_ away from the psycho prince afterward. Except these ones apparently had a poison user in their midst and damn it. If they'd been using _anything else_ , Hayato would have shrugged it off, but poison? That's a sore point.

Hayato cannot _stand_ the idea of poison. He's been poisoned in his childhood so goddamn often, he _knows_ how it feels. To wonder everytime when eating something if it'd kill him. To look for help from his family and not get it because his piano playing while healthy just isn't good enough, and half-dead Hayato is more valuable than healthy Hayato.

So Storm Camp loses a team that night and Hayato ends up with a psychotic prince in his own team's tent. Which, yeah, is about as fun as it sounds, meaning _not at fucking all_.

The asshole is _clingy._ And if Hayato ever thought Harry was a handful, well, _he was wrong and he's sorry, nothing could be as bad as this._

Or so he thinks.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **076 - Hayato's wonderful camping adventure: A shortage of Harry-induced chaos is corrected**

It's Capture-the-Flag-day. The last of the all, Storm Camp is pretty much over, this is the final day. In a stroke of genius, Team Hayato/Belphegor (they couldn't decide who was leader, neither of them wanted to give in) decided to hide their flag in the least obvious place: Their tent.

Hayato stuck around to guard it while Belphegor sticks to him for reasons no one understands. Of their remaining team members, two are out scouting for targets and the final one, former policeman turned crook Geoffroy, is around to intercept attackers (not really, the guy is fucking useless in general and everyone just wants him out of the way).

"Ushishishi," Belphegor giggles about something.

"What," snaps Hayato.

"The prince hears screams."

"And that's funny?" Hayato jumps up. Yeah, now he hears screams, too. And shots. And VOOOII.

Belphegor frowns. "The peasant shark is here." He draws his knives. "Ushishishi!"

There's suddenly a _very_ loud crash in _very_ close proximity. Hayato storms out of the tent, Belphegor behind him.

There's, well, there's a burning mess where there was once a tent. And a person tumbles in Hayato's direction - a rather small person with a mop of red hair. He stops the human bowling ball with his foot and looks down into spring green eyes.

A giant purple octopus and the yelling baby atop it waltzing into camp barely even register.

"WHAT," Hayato says flatly.

Harry jumps up gracefully like she hadn't just exploded a tent and attempted to play bowling with herself as the ball and Hayato as the pin. "Hayato! I missed you!" she cheers, a giant smile on her face, and hugs him. He catches her in his arms on reflex.

"Missed you too," he mutters back.

"Ushishishishi," Belphegor giggles. " _Who are you and why were you driving my bike."_

"HARI-CHAAAAAN!" shrieks the purple baby on the giant octopus. "PLEASE BE ALLLIIIIIIIVE!"

"VOOOIIII YOU SHITTY BRAT!" hollers Squalo.

"On second thought," says Hayato.

Harry laughs. "Ignore them! This is _all_ a dream! Go back into your tent and forget this _ever_ happened."

"Gokudera! Your majesty!" Geoffroy the useless former policeman pants. "There was a bike approaching! I shot it!"

"You _what_ ," hisses Belphegor and draws his knives. A very, _very_ bloodthirsty grin darkens his face. "The prince is _displeased_."

"Whoa, that guy's creepy," Harry remarks. "And-"

"YOU!" Squalo towers over her and Hayato by extension. His finger jabs Harry's forehead. "ARE COMING WITH ME RIGHT NOW!"

"Nope," Harry answers, and has the nerve to stick her tongue out at the swordsman.

"OH YES."

"OH NOPE, YOU DAMN PEDO SHARK."

"The fuck do you want with Harry?!" Hayato snaps, because _PEDO SHARK_.

"She's joining Varia! And I'm not a fucking pedo, get that through your thick fucking skull!"

"I'M THE GREAT AND IMMORTAL SKULL-SAMA!"

"Hi Skull-sensei and Oodako! How'd you find me?"

Hayato is pretty sure his head is spinning. "Sensei?" he asks.

"Oh, I gave a call to Verde, he implanted a tracker in you last time you met," the baby answers Harry's question.

"Yeah, that makes sense." Harry nods.

"WHAT," say Hayato and Squalo.

"Anyway!" Harry puffs up and jabs a finger at Squalo's chest. "I'm not joining Varia and I don't know why you want me to anyway, Lord of Shit!"

"OH YEAH? YOU DON'T KNOW?" Squalo's hair whips wildly around his face as he gestures wildly. "REMEMBER A MONTH AGO? YOU HITCHING A RIDE WITH ME BECAUSE THERE WAS A HIT OUT ON YOU?"

Harry blanches. "Are you insane, don't say that so loudly!" She casts a nervous look at Hayato and blanches even further.

"Harry," Hayato starts, but Squalo cuts in.

"AND THEN I OFFERED TO RECRUIT YOU AND YOU SAID NO! AND NEXT THING I HEAR YOU'VE JOINED A FUCKING CIRCUS TO BECOME A STUNTBIKER! THE FUCK?! I'M SAVING YOU FROM YOUR OWN IDIOCY, VOI!"

"Uhh... Hayato? Are you okay?" Harry asks nervously.

A significantly bloody Geoffroy scrambles into the middle of the conversation. "Help!" he gasps out. "He's gone nuts!"

Belphegor ushishies in the background.

"Is he okay?" Harry asks.

Hayato nods to himself, bends down, and swipes a set of handcuffs from Geoffroy. A click, and Harry is cuffed to him. Hayato instantly feels a lot better.

Harry holds up their joined wrists. "Just so you know, I'm picking these as soon as I need to use the toilet. Which won't be long now, I couldn't find a bathroom at Varia HQ and that was hours ago, I've been driving a bike ever since."

"Dammit, woman," Hayato grinds out. "You don't have a license."

"VOI! THAT'S WHAT YOU FOCUS ON?!"

"Does, too!" the baby on the octopus shouts. "I got her one!"

" _Help!_ " Geoffroy shrieks again and scrambles away. Belphegor barrels after him, only stopping for a moment to point at Harry.

"The prince will deal with you later, _wench_."

Harry blinks after him. "Seriously, is he okay?"

"STAY ON FUCKING TOPIC!" Squalo shouts.

"TONE IT THE FUCK DOWN!" Hayato explodes. "THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, KIDNAPPING HARRY TO JOIN AN ASSASSINATION SQUAD AND CHASING HER INTO THE MIDDLE OF A SECRET TRAINING CAMP! DO YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THAT IS! AND _YOU_!" He rounds on the baby.

"Me?!" it squeaks and falls off its octopus.

"TEACHING A SCATTERBRAIN LIKE HER TO DRIVE A BIKE, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY PEOPLE _DIE_ IN BIKE-ACCIDENTS EVERYDAY!"

"But she's good at it!" the baby protests. "At driving I mean, not at the accidents!"

Hayato gives him the death glare.

"Nice!" Squalo grins. "You can join Varia too!"

Harry hisses at him. "Don't you _dare_ try _anything_ with Hayato, Superbi Squalo!"

Squalo blinks and stares.

Harry glares. "What?" she snaps. "Something on my face, Pedo Shark?"

"You eyes just turned purple!" The baby utters. Then louder, "Your eyes just turned _purple_! You're a Cloud just like me! This is awesome!"

Harry blinks in confusion. Her eyes look perfectly green again. "I didn't do anything. Anyway!" She points at Squalo. "I'm not joining and if you want something from me next time, use the damn phone!"

"I don't have your number! VOI!"

Hayato kneads the bridge of his nose while Harry and Squalo noisily exchange phone numbers, the baby (apparently named Skull) crows about the awesomeness of Clouds, and Geoffroy screams in the background.

The octopus pats him on the shoulder in commiseration.

The _octopus_.

Hold on... is the octopus an UMA? Hayato eyes it consideringly. Hm, the colour, the intelligence...

"Hayato?" Harry tugs at the handcuffs to get his attention. "You okay?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever," he answers distractedly. "What's that?"

"Our means of escape!" Skull screams and gestures. "People are coming!" The octopus grabs him, Harry, and Hayato, mimicking Skull's hand gestures with its tentacles, and mows a few tents down while making its way away.

"VOIII!" sounds rather panicked behind them. "HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO EXPLAIN THIS!? GET YOUR FUCKING ASSES BACK HERE!"

"Serves him right," Harry sniffs. "I never did find out what conditioner he uses."


	16. 077

**077 - Phone Conversations**

 **30 July 1991**

 _*Harry has sent a picture*_

Harry: "Lol XD"

Pedo Shark: "..."

Pedo Shark: "VOI"

Pedo Shark: "WHAT THE FUCK"

Harry: "It's a picture of a kitten cleaning itself!"

Harry: "Look at all that fluff!"

Harry: "It's so cute!"

Harry: "Did u srsly just use VOI in a text message?"

Harry: "Ur so lame."

Harry: "Also figure out how to turn off caps lock, it's annoying, srsly."

Pedo Shark: "WHY THE FUCK DO YOU SENT ME A FUCKING CAT"

Harry: "CAPS LOCK IS WHEN YOU WRITE EVERYTHING IN CAPITALS"

Harry: "LIKE THIS"

Harry: "DON'T WORRY I DIDN'T KNOW AT FIRST TOO."

Pedo Shark: "THE CAT, SHITTY BRAT!"

Harry: "A kitten a day keeps sadness away ;)"

Harry: "^^"

Pedo Shark: "I REALLY FUCKING HATE YOU"

Pedo Shark: "┌∩┐(◣_◢)┌∩┐"

Harry: "ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ"

Pedo Shark: "PEDO BEAR"

Pedo Shark: "I WILL KILL YOU"

Harry: "You have 2 go thru Hayato 4 that"

Harry: "I'm still cuffed 2 him"

Harry: "✌(◕‿-)✌"

 _*Pedo Shark has sent a picture*_

Harry: "..."

Harry: "It's a shark eating a person."

Pedo Shark: "MAJESTIC"

Harry: "..."

Harry: "It's a shark eating a person."

Pedo Shark: "VOI"

Pedo Shark: "YOU'RE FUCKING HOPELESS"

 _*Harry has sent a picture*_

Harry: "Have another kitten!"

Pedo Shark: "..."

 _*Pedo Shark has left the conversation*_

Harry: "¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ "

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **30 July 1991**

Harry looks up from her phone and dubiously eyes the handcuffs connecting her to Hayato. They're not the same handcuffs he'd first used, he'd gotten more from escapist Umberto at the circus.

Her chances of picking the lock and running without Hayato noticing are... not very high. Even with him distracted typing away on his phone.

"Hey." She pokes his shoulder. "What'cha doing?"

"If you must know, Coyote Nougat doesn't blame me for the destruction wrought by your little stunt." Hayato gives her a _look_. "I've explained the situation to him, we are very lucky he's a reasonable man and fully blames Superbi Squalo."

"Cool," Harry says. "Well, not for Squalo. I'll send him another kitten picture to cheer him up! Or maybe a baby duck?"

"You do that," Hayato answers with a funny look on his face.

"Hm?" she asks. "Anything else?"

He shrugs. "See for yourself."

He holds his phone out to her.

 _*Psycho Prince has sent a picture*_

Psycho Prince: "MAJESTIC"

"Oh my god," Harry says, wincing at the depicted bloody mess in the picture. "Have you replied?"

"I don't know how," Hayato groans. "I keep thinking he wants to be praised. There's no way I can praise _that_!"

Harry nods and takes the phone. "I got it."

Hayato: "Artistic."

Hayato: "Messy, though."

"What're you doing, woman!" Hayato yelps and snatches the phone. "Oh god, he's replying!"

Psycho Prince: "He kept twitching."

Psycho Prince: "Now the Prince has blood on his sleeve."

*Psycho Prince has sent a picture*

"What is that?" Harry asks, peering over Hayato's shoulder.

"His bloody sleeve, I think," Hayato guesses. "Shit, what do I answer?"

"Gimme," Harry orders, holding out her hand.

"You insane, woman?!" Hayato gasps.

"Dude," Harry says. "So little faith. I'm the _queen_ of phone conversations."

"Since when?" Hayato asks doubtfully.

He does hand over his phone, though.

Hayato: "Inconsiderate moron."

"The heck're you writing!" Hayato yelps.

"Well he was complaining about his sleeve!" Harry protests. "I was commiserating! Also, the dead guy shot Valerie!"

"Who the fuck is Valerie?!"

"The bike I stole from Varia HQ."

Hayato pinches the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry I asked. Also, your holding grudges over the weirdest reasons-"

The phone pings again.

Psycho Prince: "The Prince thought so, too. The peasant would not listen."

"Do you need me to handle that?" Harry asks helpfully. Hayato glares.

"I can handle it," he snaps and types his reply. Then deletes it, and types again. And deletes it again. The next time he types, Harry hits the _Send_ button for him because seriously. He's being obsessive.

Hayato: "Perhaps he couldn't hear you over the sound of his screams."

"Hey, you're good at this!" Harry cheers. "Go Hayato!"

Hayato stares at his phone, horrified. "I can't believe I just wrote that. I can't believe you just _sent_ that!"

"You were being self-conscious!" Harry points out.

"For good reason!"

"You're fine as you are!"

The both scramble to look at the phone when the next message comes in.

Psycho Prince: "Ushishishishi."

Hayato and Harry exchange a look.

"I can't believe he just typed that," Harry mutters.

"Lame," Hayato agrees. "And what's that supposed to tell me?!"

"Seriously, what's with the Varia, typing their verbal tics in text messages?" Harry shakes her head. "Like Pedo Shark with his VOI."

"You actually _write_ that asshole?!" Hayato yelps and grabs his phone.

Hayato: "Tell that Pedo Shark to stay THE HELL away from Harry!"

"Wow that was rude," Harry remarks. "At least say please."

Hayato: "Please."

Psycho Prince: "Ushishishi, Pedo Shark?"

Harry snatches the phone.

Hayato: "You know. Shiny and swishy hair, CAPS LOCK, sword hand, VOI."

Psycho Prince: "Ushishishi."

"I don't even pay attention to anyone's hair!" Hayato laments. "At least put in an effort to sound like me!"

"It's not my fault you suck at text messaging!" Harry shoots back.

Then her own phone pings. She picks it up. "Huh," she says.

Pedo Shark: "WHY THE FUCK IS THE PRINCE BRAT CALLING ME PEDO SHARK THIS IS YOUR FAULT ISN'T IT"

Harry: "Caps lock, my dear Lord of Shit."

Pedo Shark: "WHY THE HELL DID I EVER WANT YOU IN VARIA"

Pedo Shark: "YOU GODDAMN SHITTY BRAT"

Harry: ";)"

Pedo Shark: "DON'T JUST GIVE ME THE WINKY FACE!"

Harry: "YOU BASTARD PEDO SHARK STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM HARRY OR I'LL KILL YOU!"

Harry: "ASDsemFOIRAopjBES"

Pedo Shark: "What the actual fuck."

Harry: "Sry, had 2 get my phone back from Hayato."

Pedo Shark: "Still cuffed together?"

Harry: "Yep!^^"

Harry: "I see you figured out caps lock."

Harry: "Here's a baby duck as reward."

 _*Harry has sent a picture*_

 _*Pedo Shark has left the conversation*_

"Don't go and make friends with Varia Captains, woman! Have you no sense!" Hayato moans. "And look at this!" He shows her his phone.

Psycho Prince: "The Prince shall call the peasant now Pedo Shark as well. The reaction is most amusing."

Hayato groans and fends Harry's attempt at hijacking his phone off to type himself.

Hayato: "Lord of Shit works, too. Don't ask me why. It's Harry's fault."

Psycho Prince: "The Prince demands to know who this 'Harry' character is."

Hayato: "Hi there! This is Harry! I'm currently cuffed 2 Hayato! XD"

Hayato: "asihbepypASEoOasr"

Hayato: "This would not be happening if _someone_ would release me from the handcuffs."

Psycho Prince: "The Prince is displeased, peasant."

Hayato: "Sorry. Harry is a handful. She's distracted by her own phone now."

Psycho Prince: "Then she is the wench who _stole_ my bike."

Hayato: "She says she's sorry."

Hayato: "She didn't mean to."

Hayato: "It was all the Pedo Shark's fault."

Psycho Prince: "The wench must pay for defiling the Prince's property."

Hayato: "She says she was going to return it."

Hayato: "If you touch her, I'm never talking to you again."

Psycho Prince: "..."

Psycho Prince: "Your commoner threats do not bother the Prince."

Psycho Prince: "But the wench isn't worth it."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

Meanwhile, Harry stares at her own phone.

 _*Pedo Shark has sent a picture*_

Pedo Shark: "Majestic~!"

Harry: "A pair of shoes?"

Harry: "High heels?"

Pedo Shark: "What do u think, darling? ;)"

Pedo Shark: "It's ur sorella, btw!"

Harry: "Oh hey!"

Harry: "Sup?"

Pedo Shark: "I stole Squ-chan's phone! XD"

Harry grins.

Harry: "You go, Sorella!"

Harry: "The shoes are pretty shiny!"

Pedo Shark: "Right! And they've got bladed heels, too! And steel caps! And look at all those diamonds~!"

Harry: "Nice!"

Pedo Shark: "Designed by Clariette Famiglia Boss. For his wife. She keeps them under lock and key. Best secured shoes in the world. She only wears them for special occasions."

Pedo Shark: "They're so beautiful..."

Harry: "U want them?"

Pedo Shark: "More than anything else in the world."

 _*Unknown has joined the conversation*_

Unknown: "VOI"

Harry: "PEDO SHARK"

Pedo Shark: "Squ-chan!~"

Pedo Shark: "Le gasp! You took my phone!"

 _*Number has been saved as Sorella*_

Harry: "What! Shame on you, Lord of Shit!"

Sorella: "THE FUCK LUSS YOU TOOK MINE FIRST"

Pedo Shark: "I'm so disappointed in you, Squ-chan. How could you take my precious!"

Harry: "Really, Squ-chan. What are we going 2 do with u."

Sorella: "Godfucking VOI, you two are so fucking dead."

 _*Unkown has joined the conversation*_

Harry blinks. "How do random people keep joining the conversation?" she mutters, then shrugs. If she asked, some arse would just answer 'Varia Quality' and assume that'd be answer enough. Annoying, that, but whatever.

Unknown: "Stop wasting time. Time is money. You should be working."

 _*Number has been saved as Miser Midget*_

Sorella: "I AM FUCKING WORKING"

Harry: "What, ur murdering people with one hand and writing messages with the other?"

Harry: "Ur so irresponsible"

Sorella: "PAPERWORK, FUCKTARDS"

Sorella: "(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡︵ ┻━┻"

 _*Sorella has left the conversation*_

Pedo Shark: "Honestly, that boy."

Pedo Shark: "Harry-darling, it was nice talking to you, I gotta go now!~"

Harry: "Later!"

 _*Pedo Shark has left the conversation*_

Harry: "Hey Mammon! How r u doing?"

Miser Midget: "Acceptable. My businesses continue to be profitable."

Harry: "Cool! XD"

Harry: "I learnt how 2 do backflips with my bike yesterday! It's fun! Especially with Hayato cuffed 2 me!"

Miser Midget: "You turn eleven tomorrow."

Harry blinks. Checks the date. Huh.

"Hey Hayato!" she pipes up, startling Hayato who is typing away on his phone with the utmost concentration. "Tomorrow is my birthday!"

"Huh?! What?"

"I totally forgot!" she laughs, and types the same thing in her phone, complete with a cute winky face.

Hayato facepalms. At her or at whatever he reads on his phone, she doesn't know.

Her phone pings.

Miser Midget: "What are your plans?"

Harry: "Party with Skull and Hayato! :D"

Miser Midget: "..."

Miser Midget: "Do you realise the significance of your eleventh birthday?"

Harry: "I turn eleven? ;)"

Miser Midget: "Have you received any letters lately?"

Harry: "Nope!"

Harry: "That's cuz I'm with the circus now and letters normally go to our Mafia Land Appartment."

Miser Midget: "You have not noticed any owl activity around your person?"

Harry: "Nope!"

Harry: "Y do u ask?"

Miser Midget: "Cease your butchering of the language."

Harry: "Whoopsie. Sorry!"

Miser Midget: "Eleven is the age magical children start their education."

Harry: "Oh _that_. Shamal said it's taken care of. I just have to go to this seminar thingy next summer. The one that magical Mafia kids have to do if they don't want to go to magic school.""

Miser Midget: "The Seminar of Magical Control of the Scuola di Magica? So you do not plan on magical education."

Harry: "Nope!"

Miser Midget: "I see."

 _*Miser Midget has left the conversation*_

"Well that was weird." Harry shrugs and tries to peer over Hayato's shoulder. He yelps and jerks his phone away, she only sees the words 'birthday present'. She laughs and kisses his cheek, because honestly. "You don't have to panic about that kinda thing." She grins. "I'll be happy with just your presence." She holds up their handcuff-joined arms. "Which I cannot seem to escape."

Hayato glowers at her. "For good reason, woman!"

"Dude!" she says exasperatedly. "It wasn't my fault!"

"Sure it wasn't," he deadpans.

"I thought we agreed it was all Lord of Shit's fault?" she asks. "Which it totally was, you know."

"Sure it was," Hayato answers. "So anything you wanna do for your birthday?"

"Surprise me!" Harry laughs. Gosh, a birthday party would be so _awesome_. She'd never had a party before!

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **31 July 1991**

Harry: "VOI!"

Pedo Shark: "VOI?!"

Harry: "Oh wow, that feels as stupid as it sounds."

Harry: "Sup, Pedo Shark?"

Harry: "Remember to turn off caps lock."

Pedo Shark: "I swear I am going to kill you one day."

Harry: "So it's my birthday today."

 _*Harry has sent a picture*_

Harry: "Look at all this cake that you don't get to eat because of paperwork! :D"

Pedo Shark: "I really fucking hate you."

 _*Harry has sent a picture*_

Harry: "Here's your daily kitten!"

Pedo Shark: "..."

Pedo Shark: "Daily"

Pedo Shark: "Kitten"

Pedo Shark: "?!"

Harry: "A kitten a day keeps sadness away!"

Harry: "Confucius said that!"

Pedo Shark: "..."

Pedo Shark: "You're fucking with me, aren't you."

Harry: " Pedo Shark, I'm not giving you my phone sex virginity."

Pedo Shark: "..."

 _*Pedo Shark has sent a picture*_

Harry: "..."

Harry: "It's a shark eating a person."

Harry: "Again."

Harry: "I'll go eat my cake now. Without you."

Pedo Shark: "The fuck, why'd you even write to me?!"

Harry: "A kitten a day keeps sadness away."

Harry: "Henceforth shall be abbreviated to AKADA KESADA.^^"

Pedo Shark: "You fucking serious? You're going to do this every fucking day?!"

Harry: "Yup. XD"

Harry: "But kittens might get boring, so I'll do baby chickens and ducks and little bunnies and stuff too. ;)"

Pedo Shark: "..."

Pedo Shark: "I have no words."

Pedo Shark: "VOI"

Harry: "*Hint hint* It's my birthday!"

Pedo Shark: "Congratulations. You've stayed alive for eleven years without getting killed due to your colossal stupidity and annoyingness."

Harry: "Thanks! :D"

Harry: "Hayato got me this really cool jacket! It's bulletproof and swordproof and has a built-in parachute, and it's got a GPS thingy in it, and it's purple!"

 _*Pedo Shark has left the conversation*_

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **1 October 1991**

Pedo Shark: "So, Cloud Flames?"

Harry: "Hi there!"

Harry: "Yup! Inverted like Skull-sensei!

Pedo Shark: "Damn."

Pedo Shark: "Inverted is f***ing useless."

Pedo Shark: "Profanity filter? You serious?! VOI!"

Harry: "My Flames are awesome! Haven't got the Cloud ones to work yet, but I'm working on it! :D"

Harry: "Also, do you really want _me_ to be violent and shot-tempered and stuff?!"

Pedo Shark: "..."

Pedo Shark: "It'd mean you'd stop sending me kitten pictures."

 _*Harry has sent a picture*_

Harry: "Almost forgot today, sorry!"

Harry: "AKADA KESADA"

Harry: ":D"

Pedo Shark: "┌∩┐(◣_◢)┌∩┐"

Harry: "Rude"

Harry: "I'm in the middle of a job, too. And I'm still talking to you."

Pedo Shark: "..."

Pedo Shark: "WHY THE FUCKING HELL ARE YOU TEXTING WHILE ON A JOB THAT'S UNPROFESSIONAL"

Harry: ";D"

Pedo Shark: "STOP IT WITH THE DAMN WINKY FACE! VOI!"

Harry: "lol"

 _*Pedo Shark has left the conversation*_

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **1 October 1991**

Hayato dials a number. It doesn't take long for Skull to pick up.

"Whossat?" the stuntbaby yawns. "It's too eaaaarly."

What the hell, it's only sunrise. This isn't _early_.

"Harry's gone!" Hayato shouts into the phone. "Tranquilised me, picked the handcuffs, disabled the traps, climbed out the window, and drove away on her bike!"

"Don't you have a tracker on her?" Skull mumbles.

"It's not working!" Stupid magical Mist Flame Harry weirdness, the GPS keeps jumping all over the place. Dammit. "Call Verde!"

"Nah," Skull answers. "She'll be fine. My gut says so."

"But!"

"Look, Hayato, she's a Cloud. We wander and drift. We like our freedom. I'm surprised she humored your handcuff-idea as long as she did, but she was never going to do it forever." Skull sighs. "Dammit, now the Great Skull is awake and can't fall asleep again."

Hayato groans. "But she's going to get in trouble! Look what happened last time! Got a hit placed on her, hung out with the Varia, got her ass kidnapped, and crashed Storm Camp which she then escaped on a giant octopus." Sadly, Oodako is not a UMA, just a Cloud Flame-enlarged normal octopus of considerable intelligence. Actually, Hayato is pretty sure that in their group, Oodako is the most sensible and sane.

After Hayato himself, of course.

"That was fun!" Skull laughs obnoxiously. The damn baby pretty quickly lost all fear of Hayato, mainly because Harry at some point started pouting at him when he scolded Skull, which put a very quick stop to any scolding. (Not the lectures, though. Harry and Skull are still helpless against those.)

"Not the point!" Hayato protests. "She's out there on her own!"

"Well yeah, she said something about keeping her thieving skills fresh. She hasn't stolen anything in months, you know?" Skull points out. "Anyway, why don't you pick up a job, too? Harry's doing fine with stuntwork, but you aren't really a circus person no matter how well you're doing with the fireworks."

Yeah, well. Hayato did need to do something, so he'd organised a few firework displays, picked up a few new tricks, and he'd learned firebreathing. Which _is_ pretty cool. He doesn't have his own act - performing in front of crowds is something he'd much rather die than ever do again - but Harry had convinced him to do some tricks in breaks between acts and after the show. Which is actually somewhat fun, having everyone staring in awe at him. Also, he gets paid, so why not?

But it's more of a vacation than anything. Hayato is _itching_ to get to his real work. He'd picked up a lot of stuff in Storm Camp, he wants to test that shit out.

Dammit. Waking up to find a note with a smiley face on it and a scrawled message of _Got a job, be back soon!_ was not fun.

...okay, maybe he was overdoing it a bit with protecting her. Then again, given her track record, cuffing her to him is a perfectly reasonable action. It's _Harry_. Her antics would probably go down in history someday. If his hair weren't already silver, Harry would give him grey one.

"Hayato," Skull's voice comes through the phone, surprisingly serious. "Have a little faith in her. Hari-chan is strong and capable."

"Well, of course!" Hayato agrees, then sighs. He and her had had that conversation about working solo before Storm Camp, right? Damn. "I'm still scolding her for running off!"

"You do that," Skull says dryly. "Can I go back to sleep now? The Great Skull-sama needs his rest."

"I thought you said you couldn't sleep anymore," Hayato points out.

"I did," Skull agrees sagely. "But nothing will stop Skull-sama from trying!"

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **26 December 1991**

Harry's been back to the circus for three days now. (And boy had Hayato given her an earful for taking off _again_ \- she's done it two times more since October _-_ but she just doesn't _like_ long goodbyes, so sue her. Nope, better to leave a funny note, some food, and return to a nice hug. Even if Hayato's lectures are kinda depressing.)

She's in a bit of a slump now because, rarely as that happens, she's _bored_. Nothing at all to do. Nada. Skull is busy 'cause Christmas just passed and New Years is right around the corner, there's Much To Do at the circus. Hayato had left on a job of his own and _forbidden_ her to come with him even though it's his very third hitman job. Which sucks, but okay, she'd probably just end up distracting him. She's still in Christmas Spirits, after all.

A bit of boredom never hurt anybody, she tells herself.

Tic, toc, goes the clock. Harry imagines it laughing at her and sticks her tongue out at it.

Boredom is safe.

Argh!

"Harry-darling~!" a voice shouts. "Merry Christmas~!"

Harry shoots up. "Hah? Sorella?" she asks dumbly, and is almost immediately crushed in a hug.

"Oh Harry~! You are the best little sister I could ever ask for~!" Lussuria gushes.

"Mmmph!" Harry flails until she's set down again. "Hi! Nice shoes! And happy Christmas!"

There, on Lussuria's feet, sparkles a pair of very shiny, apparently majestic, heels.

"They just appeared in my room on Christmas Eve!" Lussuria sighs happily. "It was like Valentine's day!"

Harry whistles innocently.

It's _so nice_ to make people happy.

Lussuria rights his hot pink sunglasses. "Let's get you some nice shoes, too! This is going to be so fun~! Hours of shopping, just us two!"

Wait, what?

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **27 December 1991**

Harry: "Majestic!"

 _*Harry has sent a picture*_

Harry: "I now have fifteen new pairs of shoes."

Harry: "Also, I'm pretty sure that shopping trip shaved ten years off my lifespan."

Pedo Shark: "VOI"

Pedo Shark: "HAHAHA"

Pedo Shark: "LUSS GOT YOU"

Pedo Shark: "BETTER YOU THAN ME"

Harry: "You suck. No kitten for you today."

Harry: "Also, CAPS LOCK, idiota."

 _*Harry has left the conversation*_

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **5 February 1992**

 _*Harry has sent a picture*_

Pedo Shark: "VOI"

Pedo Shark: "I can't believe you kept it up for months."

Harry: "AKADA KESADA"

Pedo Shark: "YOU IDIOT"

Harry: "lol"

Harry: "Hm, weird. This doesn't look like a business location."

Pedo Shark: "Texting on the job AGAIN?"

Harry: "Nope, that's unprofessional."

Harry: "Srsly"

Harry: "I really hope you don't do that kind of thing."

Harry: "VOI"

Pedo Shark: "┌∩┐(◣_◢)┌∩┐"

Harry: "Rude."

Harry: "But srsly, this is weird."

Pedo Shark: "WHAT IS WEIRD."

Harry: "CAPS LOCK, PEDO SHARK."

Harry: "So I met with a client, right? 'cause the stuntbike thing is part-time and I like being a thief."

Harry: "Not that I'm a kleptomaniac, I'm not, it's just fun. I do have a funny pickpocketing habit tho."

Harry: "Anyway, I gotta steal a portrait somewhere here."

.

Pedo Shark: "VOI"

Pedo Shark: "THE REST OF THE STORY"

.

Pedo Shark: "SHITTY BRAT"

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **6 February 1992**

Pedo Shark: "HARRY"

.

Pedo Shark: "AKADA BULLSHIT"

.

.

Pedo Shark: "Fuck."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **7 February 1992**

Pedo Shark: "VOI"

Pedo Shark: "YOU DEAD?"

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **8 February 1992**

 _*Incoming Call: Shitty Brat*_

"About fucking time." Squalo picks up his phone. "YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD FUCKING EXPLANATION."

"Hey. Hayato only just retrieved my phone." She sounds like shit. "Hypothetical question. Can I get Varia combat training without actually joining Varia?"

"The fuck happened," he demands. It's not that he was worried about the rotten brat, actually he'd probably lead a much happier life if she dropped dead. Just not mid-conversation! That's something one does not _do_!

"I got kidnapped," she utters blankly. "They were better at it than you. I knew right away it was a kidnapping."

"YOU FUCKING LITTLE-" Squalo takes a breath. That goddamn brat. He wouldn't put it past the little shit to accuse him of using caps lock while _speaking_. "So who do I have to thank for getting you out of my hair for two fucking days?!"

"There isn't a lot left of them to thank for getting me out of your shiny and swishy hair," she answers. "By the way, I know your shampoo, but what conditioner do you use again?"

That fucking dumb brat.

"WHO WAS IT YOU IDIOT."

"Caps lock, Pedo Shark." A slight hesitation. "It was the Estraneo."


	17. 078 - 084

**Warnings: Violence, nudity, experiments**

* * *

 **078 - The Estraneo: Prologue**

"Hmmm..." Harry rubs her chin in contemplation and checks the adress again. "This is really weird."

It's a wonderful sunny day in February in the city of Udine, not too far away from the border to Slovenia. The weather is cold, but it's fine when one stands in the sunlight. It's got nothing on the British winters Harry had to suffer in either her cupboard or the badly insulated toolshed, once upon a time when life was lonely, cold, and Hayato-less.

The area she's in isn't as nice as the weather. It's the abandoned-backalley kind of place. Considering the rich quality of the paper her job details are written on in elegant handwriting, this is surprising. And she's supposed to steal a portrait. Portrait-owners generally reside in mansions. Then again, it could be that the interiors of the dilapidated houses is completely different from the exterior. There's this restaurant in Verona that does that. Grey and dirty on the outside, but enter and you're in a Chinese palast. Complete with Opium den, not that Hayato and her ever went near that during their time in Verona.

Still, she has a weird feeling about this. So far her mosquitoes haven't discovered any presences around her, though. It being a trap is unlikely. Especially since the job had been recommended to her through one of Mafia Land's thief agencies and the client she'd met with seemed pretty okay, too.

Her phone dings with a reply from Squalo, she grins. The Pedo Shark is seriously the funniest arsehole in the world. She types out a reply, and after a second of contemplation adds her thoughts about the weirdness of the situation. Can't hurt, right? And he's got tons of experience because he's _old_.

She better tell him she thinks he's old. He'd never know otherwise. Harry puts her fingers on the phone's screen.

The phone falls out of her fingers. Huh, when did she get so clumsy? The phone better not be broken, she's got important numbers in there. Like the phone number of Mr. Tuna and future friends and stuff.

She bends down to pick the phone up and loses her balance, causing her to trip forward, resulting in her kicking her phone behind a dumpster.

Weird. Weirdweirdweird. _Weird_. She feels _weird_. Better sit down. Why's everything spinning? And what's smelling so funny, is that coming from the dumpster?

"Uhhhh," she moans. Her forehead feels sweaty and cold at the same time. She tries to feel it, but her fingers are numb and don't obey. She falls to the side. The ground feels warm and dry under her cheek. That's nice. She closes her eyes. It doesn't make the spinning stop.

She hears steps and voices. Tries to open her eyes, doesn't work. She's paralysed competely.

Harry should be panicking, but everything feels so numb. And spinny. No, wrong word. Twirly? Rotate-y? Where's Hayato the walking dictionary?

Someone touches her. That feels wrong. They shouldn't touch her. Shouldn't pick her up. Harry doesn't like being carried. She can walk and drive on her own, thank you very much.

A rough voice garbles something in a language she doesn't know, another answers. Harry's thrown onto a metal underground, tied up, and gagged. She tries to protest. Doesn't work due to the gag. Tries to move, her limbs only twitch in response.

Huh. So this is a kidnapping.

Squalo obviously had no clue what he was doing back then.

Whatever drug was used on her, it doesn't wear off. It only gets worse, actually. Harry thinks it might have something to do with the gag in her mouth. It tastes sour.

She never loses consciousness. But eventually, she's incapable of forming even a clear thought.

It keeps the fear away, at least. Which she really should be feeling as her clothes are stripped away and her mosquitoes are caught. Someone says something about tests and putting them in tubes.

And there's nothing Harry can do.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **079 - The Estraneo Saga: Exposition**

Harry comes to in a room that reminds her of a hospital room. Except not even hospitals are that white, and their floors don't have grooves and drain holes inlaid in them unless it's a bathroom. And the doctors wouldn't have a strapped her to a metal table without any clothes on. Her head feels cold. Her hair is gone, which makes everything seem surreal for some reason.

She's alone in the room. Countless tubes are connected to her, some just glued to her like the electrodes Verde uses in his various tests, some vanishing under her skin, ready to pump whatever into her bloodstream.

Harry is pretty sure she's just having a weird dream, so she isn't that scared. Damn, she's so disoriented.

"Commence Operation: Hecate One-Oh-Seven on Subject Ninety-four," a mechanical voice says from an unseen speaker. "Subject Ninety-four. Describe how you feel."

Harry looks around. Nope. No one else here.

What a weird dream.

"Subject Ninety-four. Describe how you feel."

This Subject Ninety-four isn't all that cooperative, Harry thinks.

Anyway, she isn't a fan of being naked and strapped to anything even in a dream, so. Might as well break out. Come on, escapist Umberto from the circus taught you about this shit...

"Subject Ninety-four. It is in your best interest to cooperate."

Harry cranes her head to look at her restraints and sees something on her wrist. A number.

94.

Huh. Weird dream.

"Subject Ninety-four!" The voice sounds positively indignant now. "Answer me!"

Okay, escaping would be much easier if she had a hairpin, but she'd make do. Obviously, without hair she's unlikely to have a hairpin.

"Enough," another voice says. "Our monitors show the subject's condition well enough. Commence the operation."

"But I just want to be thourough!" the first voice whines petulantly. "We've been looking for a magical subject for so long! If this one expires, we'll have to look again, and the Estraneo resources aren't that large anymore! We need that funding now, and for that we need results!"

Estraneo? That sounds familiar. Where had she heard that before?

"Silence," the second voice orders coldly. "Initialise Operation: Hecate One-Oh-Seven."

An electric whirring starts. Some of the electrodes on her skin vibrate. Harry frowns.

All of this... seems too real to be a dream. She reaches for her Flames - and comes up empty. She's blocked.

Okay. Not good.

How did she even get here? There was a street. A house. Her phone? Sour stench, and then.

Kidnapped. Crap. Hayato was going to kill her, if these people didn't do it first.

"All instruments work as intended," the mechanical voice says. "Begin start sequence."

Harry pulls at her restraints. Without access to her Flames, her limbs feel weak and feeble.

Cold liquid seeps into her bloodstream. Harry goes limp.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **080 - The Estraneo Saga: Rising Action**

Harry doesn't know how long she's been lying on the operating table. Her sense of time is all weird.

It's not so bad at first. A liquid is pumped into her veins, she feels colder for a few minutes, then she's back to normal. Then she feels warm after another injection, that passes too. Fever, shivers, odd calm, hilarity, breathlessness. Her body is played like an instrument. They talk through the speakers, but the words don't make sense to Harry. Things like, "Next is substance 45B11, subject is experiencing blabla." Some of what they say sounds familiar, Shamal might have used the medical terms once.

It only gets bad when she starts feeling sick, a sensation that gets worse and worse until she feels like she's free-falling into an endless abyss. There's this unimaginable pressure in her head, like her brain is swelling to twice its size and if she sneezes, it'll splatter out of her nose. It _hurts_.

It, too, passes.

"Subject experiences epistaxis," the voice says. "So far responding to the treatments better than previous subjects."

"Why are you doing this?" Harry slurs out and is ignored.

"Subject is still capable of speech."

"Initiate next phase."

 _No, please_ , Harry tries to say. Her mouth doesn't obey, and she's glad for it. Begging these _monsters_ for anything would just make her feel worse.

More liquid seeps into her. But she doesn't feel anything wrong. Besides the discomfort of being strapped naked to a metal table in a setting that she imagines could feature in a horror movie, except Hayato never lets her watch horror movies, and oh _God_ he's going to be so angry with her. She shifts restlessly, feeling uncomfortable in her skin. What are those odd metallic noises? They taste weird. The room starts to dance in front of her. She tries to move, she _has_ to move, there's too much energy inside her. And what is that awful melody in her head, it tastes like stale oil. She never knew sound could taste like something.

Memories bubble up in her mind, awful scenes, twisted and warped. There's Vernon, towering above her after he throws her into her cupboard. Petunia's shrieking voice, Dudleys maliciously gleaming eyes. Bad men chasing her through streets, Hayato glaring at her and turning away. Feeling lost and abandoned, scared to death, hungry, cold and not knowing if she'll make it to the next morning. Keeping running with no destination. A bloody battle at a Mafia mansion.

The memories dance through her head, entwining and separating, taking her down in a maelstrom of fear and desparation. Her thoughts get twisted and knotted until nothing is where it belongs anymore and she's stuck in a dark, lightless place with no hope at all. And then the most horrible thought emerges: What if this is death, and she'll be trapped here forever?

She starts to scream.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **081 - The Estraneo Saga: Conflict**

 _Giving up already?_ a voice asks.

"I can't take this anymore," Harry whispers. Or maybe she thinks it. She isn't sure of anything anymore. And she's hearing voices.

 _The pain?_ asks the voice.

"The pain is fine."

 _What is worse than the pain?_

"The fear. The cold."

 _I suppose that_ is _hard to live through._

"I'm tired. I'm scared. I want to sleep."

 _Sweetie, I died once. It was too early, and I didn't enjoy it. I wouldn't recommend it._

"Are you my Mum? You sound like a mum."

 _I love you, little Harry-flower._

"Thank you. I'm glad I'm not alone here. It's dark."

 _Then make it light._

"I can't reach my Flames."

 _They are called Dying Will Flames for a reason. Stop trying to break the block. Just do it._

"I don't know how."

Suddenly, Harry feels something cold digging her. Not into her flesh, not into her mind. Into her...

 _Hurry, love. That's your_ _soul_ _they are messing with_.

"Are you and Dad happy, where you are now?"

 _It's a very peaceful place. Your Daddy says he's proud that you named your bike after him._

"I'll name something after you, too."

 _I love you. Go now._

"Okay."

Harry reaches for the place where it hurts.

If it's Dying Will... she thinks of her friends. Of Lussuria's hugs, Squalo's yells. Shamal's grudging kindness. Skull's utter awesomeness. Hayato, all that makes him _him_ , his loyalty, his lectures, his hugs, his smile.

She wants to see them again.

Light flares in the darkness, a rainbow of fire.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **082 -The Estraneo Saga: Interlude**

Verde looks down at his current project. Too anyone else, it would have looked like a mess of wires. To him, it is a highly complex contraption designed to-

An alarm blares. He pulls out his mini-supercomputer.

"Hm," he says, staring at the displayed information. "How interesting."

He pushes a few buttons and in a part of his lab, a jet is readied for takeoff. Another few swipes of his fingers and a call is placed.

"Who's this?" is asked at the other end of the line.

"Me."

"Verde! What's up?" Skull laughs obnoxiously. "Do you require the _Great_ and _Immortal_ Skull-sama's-"

"Enough. I am calling about your student."

Skull laughs again. "Cool! What's Hari-chan done now?"

Verde takes another look at his phone. "You are aware I have a tracker on her. That tracker also monitors the Active Flames in her body. As of a minute ago, she has Activated _all_ of them. All six at once."

Or seven. There's a tiny little spark of Sky still left - necessary, something needs to hold the delicate balance of Flames together. Verde is the only one who knows about that, though.

"Uhh... and that's bad?" Skull guesses.

Dumb moron.

"You might wish to consider the kind of trigger necessary to Activate all those Flames." Verde takes a look at her vitals. Not good. He can't have her die before he's properly analysed her. Willing subjects are hard to come by. "And you might wish to consider the kind of effects that might have on her. According to my instruments, her Flames are raging without any kind of control. She might go insane or self-destruct. I doubt she's even capable of rational thought right now. She'll be running on instinct completely."

Flames are dangerous. All of them, every single one in different ways.

And Harry has every single one. Mist primarily, but her Cloud ones are almost as strong, and Clouds have the highest death rate. And now they are _raging_.

"Shit," Skull curses. "Where's she?"

"My jet is ready," Verde answers. "I shall pick you up. Is Hayato Gokudera present? We will have need of him."

"He's on a supply run in town, I'll call him. He'll be here by the time you arrive."

"Very well."

Verde ends the call and rights his glasses.

"Come, Keiman. We are leaving."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **083 - The Estraneo Saga: Climax**

Harry opens her eyes to bright light and pain. And fire. There's Flames coming from her skin, clothing her in an array of colour and making the horrible white of the room go away. The streaks of colour dance over her body, colours shifting and blinking, traveling over and under her skin. Sparks of red that disintegrate every tube connected to her, whisps of indigo making her forget the pain and cold, yellow and purple making her strong, blue cooling her fever, and then there's streaks of green lightning tickling her skin. Her hair grows back rapidly. Whatever had been pumped into her veins, it vanishes.

Lights flicker, alarms blare, people shout over the speakers. Harry doesn't care. The restraints fall off, the metal table collapses under her. She stands there, wrapped in a rainbow of Flames.

"Put it down!" they shout, and Harry just. _Snaps_.

She is not an _it_.

She is not theirs to keep prisoner and experiment on.

She is Harry and she is _free_.

The majority of her Flames shift to purple and red colour. She snarls. She would not let them capture her again. She would escape, and she would make sure they never tried any of this again on anyone. If they tried to keep Harry, she would kill them.

Sickly yellowish-green coloured gas is pumped into the room with a hiss of air.

So be it then.

With a guttural scream, she punches the ground. It gives way immediately, exploding, disintegrating, shattering. She drops into another white room, this one empty but puddles of blood staining the white tiles. Harry screams again and when a section of the wall flies open to reveal men in combat uniforms, guns and rifles at the ready, she grabs this room's operating table and with a horrible screech of metal rips it from where it's anchored to the ground to fling it into the men before they can shoot.

She punches the ground again and drops through the ceiling. Again. And again. Sometimes there are men waiting below. They scream under the touch of her Flames. Other times, she's shot at the moment she drops through the ceiling. Somehow, the bullets are deflected or disintegrated upon contact with the fire on her skin.

"Monster!" someone screams in terror.

Harry cries out in anger. _They_ are the monsters. _They_ had made her this.

It's a blur. There are screams, theirs or her own, she doesn't know and she doesn't care. In the back of her mind, she knows something is wrong, but the thought of stopping never once crosses her mind. It's all _fight-fight-fight_ and an unstoppable mix of anger and panic. Glaring lights and shrill alarms worsen her state.

She isn't the only prisoner here, when she drops in on operating rooms, she sees other people in horrible conditions - some already dead, others just looking like they are, some so monstrous only their basic proportions indicate that they'd been human once. Harry frees them all. Most just don't react, staying exactly where they are, too broken to fathom the idea of _freedom_. The monstrous ones roar and attack everything they see, Harry included.

All that she sees just feeds her rage and she fights twice as ferociously, and when there's no one left on a level, drops to the one below to clear it, too. Her Flames are getting weaker, _she_ is getting weaker, she's getting _hurt_ from the bullets now, but it just makes her more wild and dangerous.

And then she bursts through another door. This room is different. No operating tables. No enemies. Just children, three of them, boys. She halts, confused. Then she sees the chains on their limbs. The prisoners recoil from her, she doesn't care. The chains disintegrate under her touch.

Then she just stands there, unsure of what to do. She can't form a clear thought, much less a plan of escape. Her mind is a jumbled mess.

The others are naked. That seems wrong. She waves her hand and illusions of clothes form on their bodies. They stare at her.

She looks down at herself when something brushes over her. A dress covers her now. "You forgot to dress yourself," one of the boys says. Harry nods mechanically.

A crash sounds from further away, she whirls around and snarls. So do the others. The two boys who hadn't spoken back away from the door in fear. The other one, he doesn't, instead he steps up next to her. "Oya," he says, a vicious smile on his face as he looks at the door. "Are you the reason for the alarms?"

Is she? Probably. The alarms started when she freed herself. So she nods. "Free," she croaks. The word contains the entirety of her pain, terror, anger. The boy seems to understand.

He laughs. It's an odd laugh. It sounds something like 'Kufufu'. "Ken, Chikusa. We will break out now," he says. He looks at her. His eyes are mismatched, one of them red with a kanji in it. She should probably recognise it.

"Mukuro-san!" one of the boys exclaims. "How? They'll kill us!"

"Kufufu," Mukuro laughs. "I will kill them before that. I'll kill them all!"

Shots ring out and they take cover. Harry doesn't. Yellow fire runs over her skin and she lunges forward, twisting through the hail of bullets. Some still draw bloody lines over her skin, but heal almost immediately. Then she reaches the shooters.

It's over quickly.

"Not bad," Mukuro says and picks up one of the guns. "Kufufu, this should suffice until we get our own weapons. Chikusa, take a gun, too!"

One boy, his face completely expressionless, picks up a weapon.

"Why should we trust her?!" the other growls. Harry growls back, backing away a few steps.

"She's useful for now, Ken," Mukuro answers. "What's your name, dear?" he asks her with a smile.

She has to think a bit. "Harry," she eventually says. Somehow, saying her name makes her calm down a bit.

"Don't talk to her!" Ken shouts, eyes wild. "She'll betray us! She'll sell us out!"

Harry shakes her head. Then a sound from above has them looking up. "Move!" Mukuro orders sharply, smile vanishing. "You see anyone, kill them! We'll get to the arena, find our weapons! I know where the generators are, we can cut off the electricity! Then we get out of here!"

Harry hurries after them. Mukuro's got a plan, that's good. He knows where weapons are, that's good, too.

They hurry through corridors. Locked doors are left to Harry. Ken bites a scientist that gets in their way right in the throat, like a rabid dog. Two guards are shot down by Chikusa. The four of them hurry through a stadion. It smells like blood here.

"This door! Open it!" Mukuro orders. People are shouting behind them. "Fast!"

She rips the door of its hinges and they hurry in. Down a brightly lit corridor and another, then they reach a guarded metal door. Mukuro laughs at the guard, who screams and starts scratching at his own skin. Then Mukuro steps up to him, grabs his head, and twists sharply.

Harry makes once again short work of the door, and they hurry inside. Behind is a room full of lockers. Numbered and everything.

Numbers... she looks at her wrist. Ninety-four. There's a locker with that number. She disintegrates the door.

The locker is empty. She frowns.

Someone throws a jacket over her. Her purple jacket, the one that Hayato got her. "Looks your size," Mukuro says, eyeing her critically. He's got new clothes on, and in his hand is a dangerous looking trident.

"Mine," she answers.

"They gather stuff back there." He points to the back. "You only get a locker when you're a successful experiment. You haven't been here for long, have you?"

Her fingers slip into the pockets. By some miracle, the Ten-Year Ammo is where it should be, just like the ring she's supposed to always have with her according to her future self. So are the capsules with Sun Mosquitoes. And some of the normal mosquitoes hiding in sleeves and hood.

She hurries over to where Mukuro indicated. Moments later, she's wearing pants and her own boots. Thankfully, her Flames don't disintegrate the clothes.

Her head hurts. She rubs at her temples. Her thoughts are a bit clearer for the moment, better make the most of it. "What is this place?" she asks.

"The Estraneo Facility," Mukuro answers, studying her with that disconcerting smile on his face. There's a speck of blood on his cheek.

"Mukuro-san," the boy who hadn't talked until then, Chikusa, speaks up. "The generators."

"Of course."

Mukuro leads them down a few corridors. Then they squeeze into an elevator which Harry _hates_ , and go to the lowest level. Which is completely empty of people. "Split up, it's somewhere here," Mukuro says. "Ken with me, Chikusa with Harry."

"Hold on," Harry murmurs, looking around. "I've seen something like this before. Bovino Research Plant's lowest level looked like this."

"You're Mafia?" Mukuro asks sharply.

"Freelance thief, affiliated with the Giglio Nero, and stuntbiker for the Cloud Circus," she answers distractedly. A generator to power a facility this big would have to have a lot of juice, right? She crouches down to place her hand on the ground. It vibrates slightly under her fingers. Jackpot. "This wa-"

There's a trident inches from her throat.

"Kufufu," Mukuro laughs. "I _really_ hate the Mafia."

Harry's Flames explode from her once more. She bats the trident away faster than he can react. It ends up embedded into the wall. He hisses at her angrily. Illusions of vines spring up around her to strangle her. She lunges forward before they can bind her and tackles him to the ground. Mukuro snarls, hands reaching for her neck, and they end up rolling over the floor in a mess of scratching hands and kicking knees. The other boys shout, but can't interfere since it might do more harm than good.

Mukuro fights dirty, fingers going for eyesockets and hair, nails scratching, teeth biting. He's an angry little bastard, fights like a street kid, one that's been fighting for survival all his life with any means possible. But Harry is a street kid, too, and she's the same. And she isn't an emaciated kid starved and abused for who knows how long, and her Flames give her an advantage. She ends up on top of him, fist poised to shlatter his skull.

She freezes, looking into his angry eyes. And rolls off of him. "Nope, not doing this," she snaps, knuckles digging into her temples in an attempt to get her head on straight. "Get a grip, Harry!"

A rain of needles goes down on her, Chikusa glaring at her. Her Flames form a barrier around her even as she flips back.

"There they are! Get them!"

Adult voice.

 _Enemy_.

Harry growls. "Get outta here. Generator's down left." A moment later, she hears their footsteps hurrying away, leaving her there.

A roar sounds. Not from Harry or her dubious allies. Then come three people around the corner, though the first two can't really be called that. Of all the monstrous things Harry had seen so far, these were the worst. Bulging muscles, skin too red, protuding veins, hulking shoulders, and so _tall_ , dwarfing Harry's small form. Behind them stands a man in a lab coat. "Capture it."

She _recognises_ that voice. It's _the_ voice.

He's the one who did this to her.

The monstrous things attack her and Harry loses it.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **084 - The Estraneo Saga: Finale**

"Kufufu," Mukuro laughs. At least, that's what he thinks his name is. Mukuro Rokudo. "That is done, at least."

"Yeah!" Ken grins. "We're gonna get out of here this time! We never made it this far before!"

Chikusa's face doesn't change as he cleans off his fingers. He'd been the one to shut down the generator. Or disconnect it. Mukuro really has no mind for such things. That's what Chikusa is for. The reason he'd taken picked Chikusa as an asset in the first place.

He'd planned an escape for a while now. By chance, he'd gotten the opportunity to pick a guard's brains. Then he'd gained Subject Forty-five's loyalty for fighting strength - Ken was truly useful and very successful in the arena fights. Subject Thirty-eight's usefulness lay in his intellect, but he too has considerable combat strength.

Useful pawns. They look at him as if he's their hero.

(He's a monster.)

Then there was the new one. Subject Ninety-four, if he'd seen the number on her wrist correctly. Harry. Truly a marvel, all that fire flaring around her, certainly useful. Pity that she's Mafia, but perhaps she could still be used. If she was still alive, that is. Why she'd chosen to stay behind, he couldn't fathom. He had attacked her after all - a rash action, but one he couldn't control. He _despises_ the Mafia.

No matter. They would know soon enough.

The corridors are dark now after they'd taken care of the generator, only barely illuminated by emergency signs. They'd have to hurry, there is a backup generator in a different part of the facility that would be activated within fifteen minutes, and then they'd have to deal with automated guns and the like on top of security guards and human weapons prowling around. No, those fifteen minutes are their only chance to make it into the upper levels and out.

So they hurry. Mukuro isn't as prepared for this breakout as he'd have liked, doesn't yet know just what he's capable of, but the opportunity Harry created is here now and he'd be damned if he didn't take it.

"I hear something!" Ken hisses. "And I smell blood!"

That would be Harry, he guesses. "Sounds of a fight?"

"Voices!"

They creep closer. Now Mukuro hears the voices too.

"P-please!" a man's voice begs. "M-mercy!"

"Why?" The voice sounds so rough and exhausted, Mukuro barely recognises it as Harry's. So she still lives.

"W-why what?" the man cries.

Mukuro creeps around the corner and raises an eyebrow. The two human weapons had been torn into pieces, parts burned off or simply vanished. Harry herself stands bloodsplattered, pressing the scientist to the wall by his throat. The scent of blood and urine permeates the air. Disgusting.

"Why would you do such horrible things to people, to _children_?" Harry asks.

What a stupid question. Estraneo is _Mafia_.

"For h-humanity! For progress!" The scientist's voice gets more confident as he speaks. "A better world! What are a few children against suffering the world over? And the Estraneo made them strong! They ought to be grateful! So cease this insolent- ghhhck!" He chokes, Harry evidently having tightened her grip.

"For humanity?" she asks dangerously. "This has nothing to do with humanity. This is _inhuman_. Nothing you do here could possibly better the world. Now tell me what you did to _me_."

"Ampli-amplify!" the man gasps desperately. "The m-magic! So we could - so we c-could extract it! Into w-weapons! P-please!"

"Kufufu..." Mukuro chuckles as he steps up behind Harry. Time to correct his little blunder from before.

She stiffens as he reaches around her and grabs the man's head. "Close your eyes, dear Harry," he murmurs before breaking the scientist's neck. She flinches at the sharp sound. "I am glad to see you alive."

If only for her fighting strength. Mukuro himself is a strong opponent, but even he might have trouble with the human weapons.

Harry nods. "You came back," she whispers, oh so vulnerable. Easy prey. He pats her hair. Soft. She leans into his hand slightly.

"Mukuro-san!" Ken interrupts the moment. "Let's get out of here!"

Ahh, yes. Time is limited.

"Come with us," Mukuro breathes into Harry's ear.

"Okay," she whispers back.

They run. It becomes obvious that something is very wrong with her. She alternates between states of rationality and animalistic instinct. So long as it's aimed at enemies Mukuro can use that. If she makes one wrong move, he would put her down though. He would not have her become an obstacle. _He_ would get out of here, at any cost.

The Estraneo facility is large. Twelve underground levels. The generator is on the lowermost one. This means they have maybe a minute to clear each floor.

It's a bloodbath. With the electricity cut, the security system is useless. The Estraneo are scientists, not fighters. The only danger are the human weapons, but there aren't that many - the failure rate of their creation is 90 percent. They are weak to illusions, too, which makes it easy for Mukuro to put them down.

They reach the ground level just as their time runs out. Mukuro hisses angrily. Their group had made it to an entrance hall of sorts. Strategically, this is a nightmare for them.

They get swarmed by what remains of the security forces. Security forces with guns. Voices from speakers shout at them to stand down.

"What do we do?!" Ken shouts, eyes wide with panic.

"Kill them all!" he snaps back.

He would never return to that hell. Mukuro lifts his trident. And jumps to the side when Harry just. _Explodes._ Fire bursts from her body, the colours shifting and mixing so fast that she's surrounded by foul-looking greyish-brown whips of flame, lashing out around her. She crouches at the center of it, a crazed expression on her face, like she's more animal than person.

And Mukuro is the who stands closes to her with his weapon raised in her direction. She snarls and lunges at him, only to stop at the last moment, hands digging into her skull. She screams, a tortured sound, and more fire surrounds her. Mukuro slowly backs away.

Illusions. He'd just use illusions to launch her at the security forces who are now firing at her uselessly, the bullets burning away the moment they come into contact with that fire of hers.

He summons the energy that rests within him, eyes fixed on her.

She looks up, he thinks he sees something still human in her eyes for a moment, and then her form is enfulfed in pink smoke.

"Oh crap," a woman's voice groans. The smoke dissipates, and so does the foul oppressive feel of Harry's fire.

Instead, there's a woman who is undoubtedly Harry, but not. This one is taller, more colourful. And older. Not bloodsplattered and feral, instead looking worried.

What the hell?

She whirls around and dozens of little green glowing insects fly from her body and form a pattern. "Formation: Lightning Shield!" she shouts. And on command, all the insects - mosquitoes, he thinks in a daze - light up, green lightning crackling and forming connections between the mosquitoes, a fine net of electricity that wards off the bullets. The woman breathes out and looks back at their group.

"You guys look horrible," she says and reaches into the pocket of her jacket that looks like it was sewn together from parts of at least ten other jackets. "Here." She holds something out.

It's chocolate.

"What," he gets out of his mouth. It's more than Chikusa and Ken can manage. They're just standing there with open mouths.

"It's chocolate!" she says. "Chocolate makes everything better, trust me!" She grins at him. "C'mon, Mukuro, it's your favorite kind."

"What," he utters again.

"Oh yeah, I'm Harry from the future," she tells him seriously.

"WHAT."

She grabs his hand and pushes the chocolate into it. "There. Don't worry. I won't let them take you. Help should be on the way already. Oh!" She pushes something else into his other hand. "Throw this at me when things get bad, 'kay?"

Then she ruffles his hair. "Gosh, you're such a cute little psychopath at this age." Older Harry laughs and kisses his forehead.

His mind goes blank.

She turns to face the Estraneo forces. "Now then," she says cheerfully. "I've been looking forward to this for ten years."

"Mukuro-san, what's going on?" Ken sounds as freaked out as Mukuro feels.

"Nothing!" he snaps.

His eyes are fixed on the woman who's now standing just behind the lightning shield. She raises her arms in front of her, falls into a combat stance. Her hands glow for a moment, then the golden metal bands she's wearing on her wrist light up and start to shift until they are gauntlets. She reaches into her pockets and this time doesn't pull out chocolate but ammunition that glows deep red. She loads them into the chambers with neat and practiced movements.

And then she moves. Punches her arm toward the ceiling where the spring guns relentlessly shoot at them. The projectile whistles through the air. The explosion upon impact blasts huge parts of the ceiling away, the chunks disintegrate as they fly.

The guards try to flee. They don't make it far. It can't even be called a battle, it's that pathetically one-sided.

"Huh," she says. "That didn't feel as cathartic as I thought it would." Then she shrugs. "Oh well. Seriously, Mukuro, eat the chocolate, it helps." Mukuro startles and looks at the food item in his hands. It's feeling soft already under his fingers.

Chocolate. Of all the ridiculous things.

"Ah, time's up. See ya!"

She disappears in a plume of pink smoke. There's a thud, and when the smoke dissipates, the original Harry lies there, completely beaten up and no longer wreathed in fire. "'Sup," she mumbles to him. "Hey, you have chocolate."

The chain comes out of nowhere. A collar clamps around her neck. "Ah!" she exclaims, clawing at it as it drags her away..

Mukuro's eyes follow the chain to the one holding it. A sense of wrongness and _death_ surrounds the bandaged man wrapped in a black cloak.

"Vindice," Chikusa whispers, eyes widened in terror.

This is bad. Wait...

 _"Throw this at me when things get bad, 'kay?"_ She'd said that minutes ago and given him something. He looks down at his hand. It's a pink ball with weird bulges. How that is supposed to help, he doesn't know, but he throws it at Harry anyway. The ball catches her leg.

Pink smoke again. The other Harry jumps out of it, chain-free.

"Hi, Jager," she says moodily. The Vindice seems to still. "Long time no see."

"Harietta Giglio Nero," the Vindice intones with a voice that seems to come straight from a grave.

"Just Harry," she answers with a shrug. "What's my younger self being charged with?"

"For the crime of attacking a Famiglia and starting a war between the Estraneo and the Giglio Nero, the Outside Advisor of the Giglio Nero Famiglia is hereby sentenced to lifelong incarceration in the Vendicare Prison."

Older Harry tilts her head in consideration. "That sounds reasonable, but I'm afraid you lack vital information. The Estraneo were the one to start the war by kidnapping my younger self."

Mukuro can't believe this. Is she not scared? The Vindice are after _her_. And she's just- and she knows his name!

"The Estraneo Famiglia did not attack the Giglio Nero, only you personally. Their actions upon your person may be legally questionable, but ultimately do not constitute as the start of a war," the Vindice drones.

"I am aware," she answers. "However, there is more information you may not be aware of. The Vindice have had my person under observation since the matter with the Chiavarone Famiglia in Naples two years ago, correct? The information you are unaware of precedes that."

"Speak."

"When I was eight years old and still a civilian, my equally civilian uncle sold me to the Estraneo. He never paid that money back, therefore according to the Mafia Law of possession, the Estraneo do have a claim on my person. Which makes this massacre an internal matter, within the Estraneo, nothing the Vindice would have to bother with." She pauses. "The strife within the Estraneo was caused due to morally questionable actions. If you search the facility, you will find several items of research that have been outlawed by the Mafia as a whole as 'immoral'."

The Vindice gives no reaction. His silence seems damning. Eventually, he says, "The case will be reviewed. You will be informed once a verdict is reached," and disappears.

The older Harry breathes out. "Holy crap. I'm never giving Hayato shit about forcing me to read those law books again." She looks back at Mukuro and his group and smiles. "Good job, Mukuro."

Mukuro is out of words.

This person had just taken on the Vindice without batting an eyelash. Perhaps an association with her younger self would be beneficial, if this is what she would grow into.

The older Harry eventually disappears, leaving a sleeping younger one in her place. Soon enough, two babies and a boy his age show up with a small army of robots, and Mukuro and his pawns leave the Estraneo behind for good.

* * *

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

* * *

 **A/N: So here we are. Long-ass chapter, double the length than normal, but I think you'll all appreciate the lack of a cliffhanger.**

 **Lots of stuff happening here! We've got kid!Mukuro & gang, Vindice, time travel, not to mention a bloody massacre... if any of you are wondering why Mukuro seems a bit weaker here than in canon, he's only just coming into his abilities. In canon, he'd have waited longer with his escape, which he could have pulled off by himself at that point, but here Harry just blasted in and he tagged along.**

 **Also, he's now a victim of Harry's reality-warping chaos. Poor him. He might even sympathise with Hayato.**

 **For those wondering, TYL!Harry's weapons look like Yang's Ember Celica from RWBY. The ammo she uses are actually capsules with Flame-charged mosquitoes in them.**

 **Next chapter, we find out who Harry met in the future and see the aftermath of the Estraneo Saga.**

 **Until then, wonderful readers, stay awesome!**


	18. 085 - 093

**085 - Back to the Future: Part I**

Harry is burning from within. Outside, too. She's going mad from pain, fear, and anger. She's being shot at, they want to _chain_ her up again, _imprison_ her, and the mere idea of being locked up sends her over the edge of sanity.

Everyone is an enemy.

She lunges at the one nearest. The one that had hurt her before. Who has a weapon raised at her right now. She'd tear out his throat - _no! Don't!_

Her mind feels as if it is ripping itself apart. She screams, tears leaking from her eyes. Looks up into the boy's mismatched eyes and knows she won't be able to hold on much longer. She wants - she needs - _home_. Hayato. Mr. Tuna.

 _Tuna_.

Fingers dive into her jacket, find that oddly shaped thing - pink smoke fills her vision.

Lands in a brightly lit room. Too bright. The light stings her eyes.

There's a man there. It is not Mr. Tuna.

 _Dangerous._

 _Enemy._

 _Fight._

Harry throws herself forward. She might have screamed.

The man smirks - _smirks_! - and blocks her assault with one tonfa. Another hits her side and throws her right across the room. She blinks, shakes it off. Crouches and hisses at him.

"Small animal," he says. "I will bite you to death."

She roars and attacks again.

The battle is painfully one-sided. The man is _strong_. Stronger than anyone she's ever met before. And with every hit she takes, every time she's thrown to the ground, it gets harder to get up again, but she _has to_ , has to keep fighting, keep _fighting_ -

The flat of a tonfa, wreathed in purple Flames, impacts her stomach, drives all the air from her lungs before she collapses.

The burning inside her is gone. Her head is clear. She looks up at the man who's put his tonfa away and now towers over her.

"I'm Harry," she wheezes. "Thanks."

She stares up at him warily. He squats down and pats her head. Then he stands up and strides out of the room.

"Huh," Harry says.

Pink smoke again.

"Sup," she says to a rather freaked-out looking Mukuro. "Hey, you have chocolate!"

Something cold clamps around her neck. She shrieks before it cuts off her air, tries to claw it off, tries to dig her feet in , _ohgodwhatshappening_ -

Impact on her leg. Pink smoke wait what.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **086 - Back to the future: Part II**

Same room. Different person.

"Hari-chan! Are you okay?" Mr. Tuna's hands flutter about her face in mild panic. "Did Kyoya do this? I'll get Lussuria-"

Harry grabs his hand and uses it to pull herself up so she can hug him.

Ahh.

It had been _so long_ since she felt those wonderfully warm Flames. She sighs and burrows into his chest. "Estraneo," she mumbles.

"Oh _damn_ ," he says. Tries to stand up but Harry is impersonating a limpet and growling, so it's hard. Finally he gives up and settles for just petting her head and attempting to untangle the knots in her hair.

It feels really nice.

"So that guy's name's Kyoya?" she asks sleepily.

"Uh, yeah. He's my Cloud Guardian. Hibari Kyoya." Mr. Tuna laughs awkwardly. "He's a bit - violent."

"Is he a cannibal?" Harry blinks up sleepily.

"Ahaha, what?"

"He said he'd eat me," Harry mumbles.

"Err..."

"I'm generally a very tolerant person, but I'm also vegetarian and I'm not sure I can tolerate cannibalism."

"Hari-chan, Kyoya isn't a cannibal," Mr. Tuna says.

"If you say so," Harry mutters dubiously. "Mmm... I wanna meet 'Yato next."

She doesn't hear his reply. Her eyes slide shut and darkness claims her.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **087 - Disintegration**

Hayato paces. Angry, he's so angry. Fuming with impotent rage because Harry had gotten herself in trouble _again_ , and Verde had located her in the Estraneo base. The Estraneo whom her bastard of an uncle had attempted to sell her to years ago.

The Estraneo who, according to Verde, are a Famiglia making their fortune in science. Experiments that had been labeled unethical on occasion. Development of things that were rumored to be tested on _humans_.

And Harry, brilliant and unique and breakable Harry, she'd been taken by them.

Unforgivable.

Even Skull had cut his obnoxious attitude and now sits brooding while Verde monitors his instruments as the jet flies them to Harry's location. The look on both their faces is uncommonly grim.

Harry did mention being friends with the scientist. Hayato didn't really believe it, Harry can be very oblivious and _wrong_ about certain things at times, but Verde does not look as unbothered as he normally does. And he hadn't hesitated in coming to Harry's rescue.

Apparently even has an alarm just for Harry.

Good call. Hayato needs something like that as well.

"We're here." Verde looks up from his instruments, just as Hayato feels the jet touch down. They disembark within minutes, followed by a small army of flying robots. Skull and Oodako rip the entrance door of its hinges and enter.

What. The.

Fuck.

Hayato stares at the destruction within, the piles of bodies. Shit. _Shit_. "Harry!" he shouts, scanning the room. " _Harry_!"

"There!" Skull shouts. Hayato's eyes follow his pointing finger (and Oodako's tentacle mimicking it) to a corner of the room. There are three boys. And Harry.

 _On the ground._ Her red hair pools like a puddle of blood around her head. "Harry!" he shouts, running over.

One of the boys steps over her, a trident in his hands and a smirk on his face. The others fall into what Hayato assumes might be combat stances. "Kufufu... now who might you be?"

"Get outta my damn way," Hayato snarls angrily. " _Now!_ "

One of the guys howls and throws himself at Hayato. Gets a kick to his gut that collapses him. The third boy let needles rain down on Hayato. He dives out of the way and explodes the needle-shooting yoyos with dynamite before knocking the guy out.

The one who spoke scowls. Lotus vines spring up around Hayato, surging up his body. "I will not be taken prisoner again!" he shouts.

"Don't care!" Hayato bellows. "That is my damn _best friend_ on the ground! Get. Outta. My damn! _Way_!"

He'd get Harry out of here if it killed him.

The vines disintegrate. The guy - _in the way inthe way intheway_ \- snarls and attempts to stab Hayato with the trident. Hayato dives down and grabs the shaft. The trident disintegrates under his fingers just like the vines did.

He's gonna think about the implications later.

The guy snarls again and throws himself at Hayato. Doesn't get far, a giant tentacle wraps around him and lifts him away. "No!" he screams. "Let go! I'm not going back!"

Skull says something, Hayato doesn't hear it. He dives for Harry, raises her upper body up in his arms. She's all beaten up and deathly pale. But _alive_. Just... sleeping? "Damn," he whispers, voice breaking with relief. "Damn it, woman!" he sniffs. He presses one arm against his eyes as if that could stop the tears.

"'Yato?" a tired voice mumbles. He yanks the arm down so he can see her. Green eyes flutter open, fix on his. "You're 'ere. Knew you'd come."

"Damn it, Harry," he whispers. A slow smile curls her mouth.

"S'rry for worryin' ya," she slurs. "Mmm, tired. You're warm."

"I've got you," he murmurs. "Just hold on."

He picks her up and carries her over to Verde, who is giving his robots instructions to secure the building. Skull meanwhile is still talking to the trident-carrying shitcake.

"She's hurt," he tells Verde.

"Of course she is." Verde rights his glasses. "Bring her to the infirmary on the jet. I will see to her in a moment."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **088 - Aftermath: Part I**

"...And that's what happened," Harry speaks into the phone a day later.

"Voi!" Pedo Shark bellows. "You only told me you got kidnapped and experimented on!"

"Well that's the gist of it." Harry taps her fingers on the ground.

"So where the fuck are you right now?"

Harry looks around. "No idea, actually. Mr. Verde flew us all to some Famiglia that had some medical appliances, and that's where we are staying for now."

"Anyway," she asks. "Combat training?"

Because hell if she didn't get some self-defence skills fast. She's more of a brawler right now. That doesn't cut it in a world like this. Also, Mr. Tuna's Cloud Guardian had kicked her arse like it was nothing, which she really doesn't appreciate.

Squalo groans. "Fuck it. You're loaded, aren't you? Ask Mammon."

"I'm asking _you_." Harry bites her lips. "Mammon is cool and all, but I'm not just an illusionist. I tend to beat people up with my fists and stuff, I don't think that's Mammon's thing. Besides, I know you better."

More importantly, Harry feels she can trust the Pedo Shark.

"God-fucking Voi you shitty brat. It'll still cost you."

"Sure. Okay." Harry shrugs. "I've got a bunch of shiny rocks at the circus. You can have some."

"Fine. Get your ass over here."

"Err... can't. Not for a while, Mr. Verde says. I'm on medical leave. My metabolism is totally screwed what with my Flames going crazy."

That, and the fact that whatever the Estraneo had done to her, it'd done _something_ to Harry's Flames. She had to call them before. _Now_ they bubble just under her skin, and barely a thought has her bursting in Flames. And Mr. Verde couldn't even give her some calming medicaments because her Storm Flames eat through pretty much everything she ingests, even food. Which has her figure is looking kinda skeletal at the moment. Something about her Flames attempting to repair her body, except the energy for that has to come from _somewhere_ , hence heavy weight loss. Mr. Verde had figured something out to help her eat, but it'd probably take a while for her to gain weight again.

On the upside, whatever shit they'd pumped into her blood is burned away now.

"So I'm taking a little vacation, I guess."

That'd be good for Hayato, too. He'd been _so_ worried. Enough that _he_ had gone and Activated his Flames. _He_ though doesn't have her randomly-catching-on-fire problem. He can barely produce a spark for now.

"Voi! Vacation's for pussies!

"Well, can't argue with the doctor, right?" Harry points out.

"How long?"

"Dunno?" she asks. "A few months, I guess. Not sure. I've got this magical bullshit thing in summer, so I'll be free after that?"

"You're one of those magical fruitcakes? That explains so fucking much."

Harry laughs. "Yup! So it's okay if I come by for training?"

"What-fucking-ever." She can almost hear the sadistic grin through the phone. "But give me a warning first."

"Sure thing, Pedo Shark! Thanks!"

"AND DON'T CALL ME PEDO SHARK!"

Harry hangs up and works herself to her feet. Technically, she's on bed rest. Turns out, the longer she spends lying around, the more antsy she gets, which inevitably leads to her bursting in Flames. So she's allowed to walk around a little now. In their room only, though.

"Kufufu..." Mukuro laughs. "Who were you talking to, Harry-dear?"

"My friend," she answers. "I wanna learn some real skills for fighting. I don't really suck right now, but I could use some training."

For some weird reason, mainly Harry growling at people when they tried to separate them, they all ended up sharing a room. Which is kinda fun actually, like a giant sleepover. Plus, Hayato and Mukuro are like, super good friends already. They yell at each other a lot. Ken yells at her a lot, and Chikusa doesn't yell at all. It's fun.

"What do you wanna do when we get outta here?" Harry asks Mukuro, finally taking a seat on her bed again.

He laughs his creepy laugh. "Perhaps I will destroy the world."

"Uh... okay? But can you leave the nice parts?" Harry asks. "Because I really like the circus, and that amusement park on Mafia Land is supercool, we should totally go there someday, and there's this restaurant in Bologna that makes the best hot chocolate, also I've never been to Japan and I kinda wanna go, so leave that, too? Oh, and France. And Spain! I think I want to visit lots of countries in the future, I've only ever been to Britain and Italy, and there's _tons_ more!"

Mukuro stares at her incredulously.

"What?" she asks. "Do you need more chocolate? You like chocolate, right? You had chocolate back at the Estraneo place."

"I don't need chocolate."

"Goody, because I don't have any." Harry grins at him. "So where do you wanna go?"

"Perhaps I will stay here." He smirks. "That Lancia person already offered..."

"Oh yeah, he's like, totally nice." Harry shrugs. "Just, I don't think you should jump on the first offer, you know? You can go anywhere." She brightens up. "You could come with Hayato and me to the Cloud Circus!"

"The... Cloud Circus," he repeats.

"Yup. It's Skull-sensei's place. A sanctuary for Mafia-damaged folks. You could learn to drive a bike! It's fun!" Harry beams at him. "And Ken likes animals, right? And Chikusa could juggle! I bet he'd be good at it."

"Sanctuary?"

"U-huh." Harry nods. "Anyone who tries to mess with a member gets in trouble with Skull-sensei. And the rest of the Arcobaleno, probably." She grins. "Think it over, 'kay?"

"Kufufufufu... I will."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **089 - Aftermath: Part II**

Lancia is fun. He's this super big and scary guy who doesn't mind kids crawling over him and playing board games and stuff. Actually, the whole Torelli Famiglia is nice. They've got lots of kids and help out in the city and stuff, and everybody loves them.

Still, Harry is happy to get out of their hair and back to the circus.

"Can't believe you invited them to come with us," Hayato grumbles, glaring at Mukuro and his friends sitting in the car with them. The Torelli boss had offered to give them rides to the circus, since Verde took off in his jet for something or other.

"But you're totally happy about it," Harry laughs. "Since you're friends and all."

"Sometimes I really worry about your brain," her friend mutters.

Mukuro laughs. Hayato glares at him.

The ginger-haired girl that had insisted on accompanying 'Muku-chan' sticks out her tongue at him. Her name is M.M. which is weird, but it's probably short for something really embarrassing.

"Everything alright back there?" Lancia asks them from the driver's seat.

"Peachy," Hayato growls.

"Muku-chan," M.M. tweets. She has this really cute voice. She is really cute in general. "You really could stay with us, you know?"

Mukuro pats her head with a smile. "I am sure that would be nice, but after our ordeal... a sanctuary might be just what we need."

Hayato narrows his eyes. "Because you seem _so_ utterly damaged and traumatised, pineapple-bastard."

"Leave him alone!" M.M. bristles. "Poor Muku-chan. Are you sure you want to stay in the same place as this uncivilised _brute_? And this... insanely stupid _brat_?"

"I am sure Hayato-kun secretly likes me. Kufufufu... and dear Harry needs someone to watch out for her and show her the right path."

"Why you!"

Harry laughs. "This'll be superfun! Right, Skull-sensei?"

"Right!"

She and Skull high-five. Hayato high-fives his face.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **090 - Aftermath: Part III**

"What a... _charming_ place," Mukuro says. Harry bounces up and down in excitement. She's better now, she can actually eat again, and now she has a _ton_ of energy.

"Right? Right?" she asks, beaming. "So you three can share that wagon."

"If you stayed with us, you could all have your own rooms," M.M. interjects huffily, hugging Mukuro's arm.

"And this here next door is Hayato, mine, and Skull-sensei's wagon!" Harry drags them over. "It's bit more cluttered, but I love it and it even has this tiny kitchen thing. Oh, don't slip on the shiny rocks. I really should find a place for them..."

M.M. squeaks and grabs a red one. "Are these real?! These are real!"

"Well yeah." Harry shoots her a confused look. Well, so what if she likes pretty rocks. To each their own. "You can have it if you want."

M.M. squeaks again. Then she lets go of Mukuro's arm, darts over, and hugs Harry's instead. "You," she declares. "Are my new best friend!" Then, to Lancia, "I'm staying here too!"

Mukuro twitches.

Lancia blinks.

"I thought you said I was stupidly insane?" Harry asks in confusion.

"She said you were insanely stupid," Hayato corrects with a glare. "Damn gold-digger." M.M. glares at him.

"I meant it in a nice way!" she says. "You believe me, right? Hari-tan?"

"Okay?" Harry asks, then grins. "My number of friends has risen again!"

Hayato facepalms again.

And no, Harry isn't an idiot. She knows that Mukuro has motives and reasons and plans for their friendship, and that his head isn't screwed on straight. She's entirely aware that M.M. too has reasons for befriending her. And she doesn't really get it, why they'd value shiny rocks and world-destruction over a simple, fun life full of adventure, but it's not like she _needs_ to understand.

And all those things don't change that they still want to be her friends.

And if they want friendship - then Harry would give it to them double and triple.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **091 - Aftermath: Part IV**

Two months later and Hayato has caught on. Took him long enough, Harry thinks, watching him be agressively friendly to Mukuro, who is forcefully nice right back. It's hilarious.

Her plan is working like a charm. By the time Mukuro caught on it was already too late.

Step One was feeding them. That netted her Ken's undying worship, though he's kinda foul-mouthed about it.

Step Two was finding them jobs to do. Again, easy in Ken's case - she showed him to the animal kennels, the rest was history. Maccomo the animal trainer took him under his wing pretty much immediately on seeing the boy play with the lions. Chikusa, surprisingly, kind of got adopted by a parrot. The bird won't leave his shoulder now. Talks more than Chikusa, too.

And it turns out Chikusa is good with engineering stuff, which the circus always needs some helping hands with, so that was another one occupied with a position where he would be valued.

M.M. found her calling on her own. She helps with the music, the productions, and general management now.

Mukuro was a bit harder, but well. Illusionists in a circus are never out of jobs.

Step Three applied to Mukuro only - and it might seem a bit counterintuitive to teach him how to do illusions better and train his fighting skills when he wants to destroy the world, but the point is, _she_ is giving him what he wants _for free_ , she's giving him reasons to seek _her_ out, makes him want to spend time with her, talk to her. Skull helps her - he's got some bad experiences with human experiments himself, so he knows what to do, how to talk to him.

By the time Mukuro noticed that Harry has successfully hijacked his minions and that he himself has gotten _attached_ (no matter how much he denies it), it was way too late to stop it. Oh, he tries. It's just kinda hard to defeat Harry's weaponised cheerfulness and friendship.

No one ever said Harry couldn't be a manipulative little shit just because she's a generally nice person.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **092 - Aftermath: Part IV**

Harry is in the kitchen making brownies with twice the amount of chocolate than the recipe says, because Mukuro likes chocolate.

This is when a rip in the air opens and a Vindice officer steps through. Harry pales rapidly.

The terror and pain of being chained and locked up still wakes her up at night. So do the nightmares.

"Harietta Giglio Nero," the Vindice intones. She shudders at the gravelly voice.

"Yes?" she whispers. "Harry's fine."

"Your case has been reviewed."

"Oh," she mutters tonelessly. Her fingers dig into the spatula she was cleaning up seconds ago.

"Thorough investigations have revealed that your actions at the Estraneo Facility were within reason. You are excused of all accusations."

Harry's breath leaves her with a whoosh. "Oh, that's great. That's awesome. Thank you, Mr. Vindice." She beams at him - a bit shakily, but the thought counts. "Would you like a brownie?"

She gets the general feel of consternation from the representative of the most feared entity in the Mafia world. That's okay, she confuses people a lot by being nice. It just means she has to be nice until they don't think it so weird anymore. Seriously, people being nice shouldn't be seen as something odd.

Besides, he'd just said she was excused, which meant she could treat him like a normal visitor.

"As a thank-you for your hard work!" she explains. She holds out a brownie for him. He doesn't take it. "So, uhm, since you're here, I was kinda wondering about the whole thing about me coming from the magical world. I mean, you probably know about that, what with the whole investigation thing..." Her voice trails off.

"As the officer assigned to your case, I am aware."

"I have my own case?!" Harry yelps, momentarily thrown off. "Okay, that's... _disconcerting_ , but okay. Okay. Good to know. Err. What's your name? Can I know your name? I mean, if you're assigned to me, we'll probably see more of each other. Might as well be friendly? Unless that's unprofessional? Uhm. You sure you don't want a brownie? I make good brownies."

Awkward silence. Harry holds out her hand and keeps smiling bravely. "Hi, I'm Harry. Nice to meet you."

"...What is this."

"A handshake? What people do when greeting each other?" Harry asks. "It's weird, I know. I prefer hugs."

Come to think of it, the Vindice Officer looks like he needs a hug. Hayato says she can only hug friends and family, though, otherwise it's rude. Which, again, _weird_.

The Vindice guy shakes her hand. It occurs to Harry that this is _awesome_. Because, like, Vindice are Mafia celebrities, right? In the bogeyman sort of way, but it's still pretty cool to shake one's hand.

She refrains from fangirling over it.

"So I was wondering, if I need a your advice for something, like if the wizards kidnap me or something for whatever, and I don't wanna, well, be a witch. And I'm with the Giglio Nero anyway, what with the Outside Advisor thing." Which is a complete bullshit position Aria had instated just for her, which was really nice if her but is still complete and utter _bullshit_. "How would I contact you, sir?"

"Donna Aria will have ways to contact us."

"Yeah, but if it has to be fast? Isn't there, like, a phone number?"

"...ask Donna Aria for the Vindice Relations Office number. Ask for Jager then."

"Thanks!" Harry beams up at him. "So that's your name?"

Really, thinking of the Vindice as celebrities makes them a whole lot less scary.

"This concludes our business."

The rip in the air appears once more, a moment later Jager is gone.

Incidentally, so are the brownies.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **093 - A private concern**

"Hayato?" Harry asks, sounding hesitant, which puts Hayato on instant alert. _Harry_ and _hesitant_ do not go together.

"What's wrong?" he asks, pushing his explosives-making supplies to the side. The thought of Harry getting her hands on explosives gives him shivers of terror.

"Are you free this week?" She tugs at her hair nervously. "Sorry, it's short notice, but I had an odd thought and there's something I want to verify."

Crap.

"Got a hit." He scowls. "Gonna be gone for at least two weeks."

He _knew_ it. He shouldn't have taken this job. And now Harry needs him and he can't go because he'd already accepted the damn hit.

"Damn," she sighs, sinking to the ground beside him.

"Why? What did you want to verify?" he asks. She shrugs.

"Something back in Britain," she answers casually, like she isn't dropping a huge bomb on him.

"What?!" he exclaims. "Why would you- what are you even- no! You are absolutely not going to Britain."

"Oh come off it," she scowls. "I'm not stupid. I'd go in disguise and stuff. I'm a thief, I can do stealth."

"Not the point, woman!" he shouts. "Why would you even want to go?!"

Harry has a policy of avoiding anything magical and British like the plague. For her to want to go _back_ -

"Because," she answers, not really looking at him but at her hands, fingers fidgeting restlessly. "My uncle sold me to Estraneo back then."

"I know that," Hayato answers when it doesn't look like she's going to say anything further. "You want revenge or something?"

"Nah." She shrugs. "I wouldn't have met you if not for that, y'know? So I can forgive him, I guess. Or at least forget his existence."

He shakes his head. Leave it to Harry to completely fail to look at it like a normal human being.

"Then what do you want to see him for?"

" _Want_ is a strong word," she mutters darkly. "I don't particularly want to see him ever again."

"Okay, you lost me."

"He sold me to Estraneo," she repeats.

"Yeah, so?"

She gives him an incredulous look. "He's civilian. Utterly and absolutely civilian. He _shouldn't_ have stumbled over an Estraneo agent!"

Hayato stills. "Maybe the Estraneo agent stumbled over him. Over you."

"I didn't do anything _freaky_ on our stay in Italy. There was _nothing_ that would have made a Mafia guy look at me twice. For that matter, why were we in Italy in the first place? The Dursleys detest 'foreign nonsense'." She looks at Hayato. "Or maybe you're right, maybe I'm completely overthinking this. Or maybe I'm not. I need to _know_ , okay?"

"Okay," he sighs. "But I'm gonna be gone the next two weeks, possibly longer. It's a higher-profile job this time. We can go once I'm back."

"I don't want to wait that long." Harry rakes a hand through her hair in agitation. "It's bugging me _now_."

"Well, you can't go by yourself," Hayato says with a very _pointed_ look at her. So help him, if she ran off, who knows where she'd end up. On Mount Everest chasing penguins, probably.

"Kufufufu, I couldn't help but overhear-"

"What the _fuck_ , you damn pineapple!"

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅̅_̅()ڪے

 **Bonus**

 **085.5 - Ten Years Later**

"Ha! Found you!" Harry drops from the ceiling right in front of her fellow guardian and points at him dramatically. Kyoya twitches.

"What do you want," he drones.

"I've been waiting for years and years to hold it over your head that you called me _small animal_ on our very first meeting," Harry declares, grinning triumphantly.

"So?" he asks, entirely unimpressed. She lets her arm sink.

"That was kinda it, actually. Huh." She frowns. "I didn't think much further. Should I gloat some more?"

Kyoya pulls out his tonfa.

"Ohhh, good idea! Let's go spar! Wait, not here! In the training hall! Kyoya! You know how Tsuna gets when you demolish the base!"


	19. 094 - 096

**094 - Road tripping**

Harry and Mukuro end up on a road trip.

Actually, it's more of a boat trip and they stow away on a plane, too, so roads aren't actually being tripped. But who cares about the details?

"My," Mukuro says. "I did not expect stowing away on a plane to be so _comfortable_." He leans back in his first-class seat and sips his orange juice.

"Well, what did you think?" she points out. "We're Mists. Illusionists." A wave of her finger and a mosquito appears for all of a second. "I only needed to convince security to let us through, and accept our utterly fake passports. It's pretty easy to do."

"Kufufufu," he laughs.

"We can send ourselves as luggage next time, though, if this isn't meeting your expectations. It sure sounds fun."

He kufufus again. "No need. Now then, dear Hari... tell me your story."

"Nah." She shrugs. "I'm tired. I'm gonna sleep." Now to find out just how far the seats can lean back...

"What the- no! It's been mentioned before, but just _what_ do you mean by _magic_? You speak of Flames regularly, so by _magic_ you must mean something else, and it has to do with the very country this flight will take us to. If you are placing us at risk, I want to know." He adds a vaguely threatening Kufufu for good measure.

Harry groans. "This is a road trip. Not a guilt trip."

"That doesn't even make any sense. Kufufu," he answers threateningly.

"Okay, _fine_." Harry scowls at her annoying and possibly psychopathic companion. "So here goes... magic exists. There. I told you."

Mukuro positively frothes at the mouth. He looks a second away from stabbing her with the trident he'd smuggled through customs. "You're _annoying_ , Harietta," he hisses.

"I'm a _Mist_ ," she answers blithely. "We're _supposed_ to be annoying. It'd amaze you to know just _how much_ you can get away with just because people _expect_ you to screw with them simply based on our Flame type."

"I'm _sure_ ," he says acidly. She pats his cheek and orders some chocolate from a flight attendant.

"You'll learn to enjoy life someday," she assures him. "Just listen to your super awesome senpai."

"...Oh God _no_."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **095 - The Power of Love and Friendship**

In the dead of night, Mukuro and Harry sit in an office building belonging to a drill producing company named Grunnings. Well, Mukuro isn't sitting, he's pacing angrily, stabbing his trident into random patches of wall. Harry sits crosslegged on a desk, looking through papers.

"I will _kill_ these people!" Mukuro hisses, too pissed to even kufufu. His red eye glows. "Them and everything they care about. I will burn their houses down! I will-"

"Nah," Harry answers, places the papers next to her and begins picking at her thumbs.

"Ex _cuse_ me?!" Mukuro explodes.

"Shut up." Harry gives him a Serious Look. It surprises him so badly he actually does shut up. "Look, I know you want to destroy the Mafia for revenge. That's cool and all, I get it. _But_ , as your friend, I am going to give you a reality check. Destroying the Mafia is _not_ going to work. There's hundreds of thousands of people in the Mafia. You won't get far. Maybe you'll manage to destroy one Famiglia. Two, if you're smart. And then someone will kill you and everyone you dragged into your little scheme, or the Vindice will take care of it. And you saw them, you don't stand a chance against them. _No one_ does. I won't let you throw your life away like that."

He clenches his trident. His red eye glows. "You mean to stand in my way?!"

Harry gets off the desk, stalks over, and jabs a finger into his chest. "I mean to remind you that there's more than one way to get shit done. It doesn't have to be homicide. Or genocide, for that matter. If you erased the bad parts of the Mafia, if you _changed_ it - wouldn't that count as revenge, too? You'd be taking the bad guys' ground from under their feet. They'd die off all on their own."

"It is not enough! They are _all_ the _bad guys_ , as you call them! All Mafiosi are _rotten to the core_!" He glares down at her. "How _dare_ you! But then, you're one of them! Mafia! You're just like everyone else! After what they did to you, what you saw in the Estraneo facility, how could you even go on like you do! I know you still suffer nightmares! I know you _know_ what it was like! Yet you simply _accept_ it?! You coward!"

Harry throws her arms around him and hugs him with everything she's got. Because he's hurting, he's in _pain_ , and he needs a hug.

"What," Mukuro hisses. "Are you _doing_?"

"Hugging you."

"Let me rephrase that. _Why_ are you doing what you are doing, you foolish child!?"

"Call it what it is, call it a hug. Or are you so scared of accepting that someone might extend a gesture of affection your way that you won't even name it?" Harry asks. Without looking, she knows he's got his trident near her neck, right about to stab her. She just hugs him tighter. "I'm hugging you because I want to. Because you're in pain, because you have nightmares too, and they won't go away even if you go and kill people. But you know what makes _my_ nightmares go away? Hayato hugging me and telling me that he's there for me and that everything's going to be alright. Because he's my friend and loves me. And I'm his friend and I love him, too. So I'm hugging you because I want to make your nightmares go away. And you and I, we're going to be super great friends, and nothing you say is going to stop it."

"Let go!"

"No."

"I see now! You were only Subject Ninety-four a mere day! You can't possibly understand the depth of my suffering. Of my _hatred_!"

She leans back, looks up at him. "Doesn't matter if it was one day or a hundred. I'd still love Hayato and I'd still want to be your friend. That's not going to change because some arseholes decided to toy around with me. I won't let what they did kill my light. And I won't let them kill yours, too."

He laughs, not his usual Kufufu, but an unhinged, desperate thing. "Light! Do you even know what they _did_ to me, you stupid girl?!"

"Don't need to." Harry glares at him. "I will save you with the Power of Love and Friendship. Deal with it."

"You are _insane_!" Mukuro laughs harder. His trident has long since fallen to the ground. His fingers dig into Harry's arms as if he needs to steady himself. It's a mockery of a hug, but it's still a hug. "I'll be doing the world a _favour_ by killing you!"

"I'll come back and haunt you as a ghost with the sole purpose of befriending you. Without the need for sleep. Or any respect for your privacy. Imagine that, me flying around you twenty-four seven singing songs about friendship. Fair warning, I don't sing very well."

He laughs even harder now. "You- you-"

"It's okay, you know? It's okay to love people. It's okay to have friends. And it's okay to go on and try to be okay. It's _okay_."

Mukuro just keeps on laughing.

"I know you don't believe a word of what I'm saying. That's okay, too. I'll just keep saying and proving it until you do." And she would. She _would_. With the Power of Love and Friendship, or whatever else it took.

"Are you saying you _love_ me?" This seems to make him laugh the hardest. "I hate. I use. I do not care one whit about you or anyone else. You are all just pawns to me!"

"So? I don't have the right to wish you were not what you are. You're you. The only thing I can decide is whether to be your friend or not, and I told you my decision already."

"So you don't care?! How much of an _idiot_ can you be!"

"Of course I care that you're one Kufufu away from insanity. Because I care about _you_. I care about a lot of people that probably don't care the same way in return, but that's okay. It makes me happy to care about people. And sometimes, it makes them happy to be cared about, too. Which makes me even happier. I'm a rather simple person, you know?"

"You won't stop my revenge!"

"I never said I would." She's feeling tired now. "I never said that. I know the world of Mafia is dark. But you don't defeat darkness with more darkness. You defeat it with light. Light kills darkness."

"You really believe that. You _really_ believe that. You think you can change the world by being _nice_ and giving people _hugs_." He says it like a curse.

Harry tilts her head. "I already am, you know. Changing the world, that is. I'm changing yours right now."

He looks like he's going to break if she hugs him any longer, so she steps back and releases him. To be honest, she's feeling spent now as well. Declaring one's unwavering friendship to someone who doesn't want it does that to people. "Anyway," she says. "Just because I won't let you kill Vernon and his people doesn't mean I don't want them dead. There are people who just can't be helped, and they are that kind of people, unlike you. I'm just of the opinion that this should be handled professionally."

Harry pulls out her phone.

"VOI! It's fucking 4 am, this better be life and death I only just fell asleep after dragging my bleeding ass back from a shitshow of a mission. I will fucking murder you!"

"Now that's a greeting," Harry says, appreciative.

"Shitty brat?"

"Why so surprised? Forgot to look at caller ID?" Harry clicks her tongue in disapproval. "What if I had been one of those survey people who ask you weird questions until your brain oozes out of your ears? Geeze, Pedo Shark. Survival instincts. Get some."

"Just hang the fuck up on that scum!"

"That'd be _rude_!"

"Is this life and death? Voi, what the fuck did you do this time?!"

"It is, in fact, life and death." Harry rolls her eyes at the phone and rolls her eyes at the thoroughly twitchy looking Mukuro. _Crazy assassin,_ she mouthes. "Hypothetically-"

"Big word, congratu-fucking-lations."

"Shut it. Hypothetically, if I wanted a bunch of hypothetical civilians dead without going through hypothetical Mafia Land channels or any official channels who would hypothetically link this to me somehow. How would I do this? Hypothetically."

"Voi, what the _fuck_ did you do."

"Hypothetically nothing yet, Pedo Shark."

"You want someone dead, do it the fuck yourself. Or ask your hitman friend. And don't fucking call me that."

Harry rolls her eyes and stays silent.

And three, two, one,...

"What the hell did a bunch of civilians even do to piss _you_ off, you shitty brat?"

Jackpot.

"Have I ever told you about my uncle?" Harry asks conversationally.

"Abusive piece of shit that kept you in a cupboard. Finally caught on that that shit ain't right and he deserves to die?"

"What? Nah," Harry waves that off. "Not the point. I never told you how I ended up with the Mafia, right?"

"Go on."

"Got you curious, huh?" Harry grins. "So Uncle Vernon took his family plus me to Italy. And sold me to the Estraneo. I ran away and into Hayato sometime later. The rest was superfun and superfluffy history."

"Fuck."

"Anyway, after the latest kidnapping by the Estraneo, I got to thinking... Vernon's _civilian_. Civilians don't just stumble over the Mafia. Omertá exists for that reason."

" _Fuck_."

"Right? So I went to check on a few things back here. Dosed Vernon with Mist Flames and asked a few questions." Harry scowls. She'd let Vernon go for now, with no memories of her and Mukuro's joint questioning, but it had been hard. She hadn't been lying when she told Mukuro she wanted the man dead. "Turns out, I'm not the first kid that's been sold. Just the first Vernon handled personally and on-site. Grunnings, my uncle's company, is a front for a small-time human trafficking ring that targets children. They take kids from the streets or orphanages and sell them wherever. Not just Estraneo, other places too. I won't let that fly."

She and Mukuro had already copied the paperwork they'd found. Vernon Dursley's transactions had quite the paper trail. Except for the time he'd sold Harry herself. He'd been a lot more careful then because he was terrified of wizards looking into the matter.

Wizards had actually come to his _house_. A giant man, furious, had knocked the door off its hinges last summer. Vernon had bullshitted that she'd been abducted during a vacation. Petunia had tearfully lamented poor little Harry's fate. The big guy ate it up. Later, some old man showed up reassuring that Harry would be found and reunited with the Dursleys.

Not a chance in hell.

Harry hears a muffled curse and clothes rustling on the other side of the phone. "Civilians, you said. Get me the names. You want it to look like an accident?"

She blinks and says calmly, "Hell no. I want them to be an example. I want their deaths to make the national news. I want them to die in ways that will make it fucking _obvious_ to anyone who watches that they were into some utterly _sick_ shit. I want people to investigate and uncover all that crap he and his minions did. I want people to look at his bloody corpse and say 'good fucking riddance'. And I want _every last fucker_ that even considers pulling the kind of shit they did to remember this and decide _not to do it_. And that, Lord of Shit, isn't a hitman's job. It's an assassin's. Hitmen kill. Assassins kill and send a _message_. Assassins are _political_."

Mukuro stares at her, utterly baffled. Harry gives him a thin smile.

She does know how the world works. Power of Love and Friendship doesn't work on everyone, least of all people like Vernon Dursley and his minions.

"Shit, kid, you don't got it any smaller?"

"I can hear your blood-thirsty grin over the phone," Harry points out. "What're your payment rates, Pedo Shark?"

"I'll pay _you_ to stop calling me Pedo Shark! Or Lord of Shit! Fucking VOI!"

"...uhh. That's like cutting out my _liver_!" Harry grimaces. "Whatever will I call you then?"

"My fucking name, you moron?!"

"Ugh. Blegh. Don't wanna."

"VOI! That's the payment, suck it up. LUSS! WAKE THE FUCK UP!" Harry hears Squalo hammer against a door. "The names, shitty brat!"

"Vernon Dursley. CEO of Grunnings Drill Company. Place of residence is Privet Drive Number Four, Little Whinging, Surrey. In Great Britain. I suggest you take Mammon, too. There might be magical interference."

"What the _fuck_?! What kinda shit is your family into?"

Harry waves that off. "Ask Mammon, he knows. Or she. Whatever gender Mammon is or isn't. I've got shiny rocks at the circus that I'm using as paper weights, so field Mammon's fees to me."

"Right. Voi. Anyone else you want dead?"

"The Grunnings employees. Maybe not all of them. I'll leave that up to you." Harry rubs at her temples and looks at the pile of papers next to her. "Some of Grunnings business partners. I'm gonna have to look into them. Probably gonna have to clear it with Vindice depending on how bad it gets, sell it as 'protecting Omertá.' These people are all civilian, not part of any syndicates, so it should work." She groans. This shit was _big_. She'd probably end up travelling all over England. Possibly other countries, too. "I'll call when I've got more info."

"You do that. Voi, you're a fucking mess."

"Thanks, Shark. Seriously."

"What-fucking-ever." He hangs up.

She should seriously do something nice for him these days.

Mukuro laughs. He seems to have composed himself for now. And is ignoring the giant Power-of-Love-and-Friendship-elephant in the room. "My, you are surprisingly vicious for all your previous talk."

Harry gives him a flat look. "I generally don't do grudges but when I make an exception, I give it my all." She rubs at her temples. "So. You feel up for busting some human trafficking scum and utterly destroying them?"

"Of course. Kufufu. But answer me a question... why didn't you kill Vernon Dursley, if you hold a grudge against him?" He sounds genuinely curious.

Harry shrugs. "I've only ever killed in self-defence or in defence of others. I won't become a murderer over a piece of shit like him. He isn't worth it." She cracks a tiny smile. "I've got morals, you know?"

"Foolish and naive." Mukuro smirks, a horribly brittle thing, and holds his arm out. "Shall we?"

"We shall."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **096 - Here comes plot**

They make it back to the circus seven weeks later. All six of them, Hayato and Harry, Mukuro, Ken, and Chikusa, and M.M. Hayato had joined them when Mukuro and Harry were in France and figured out that investigating was kinda hard when they had no clue about the language. Ken and Chikusa felt lonely at that point, so they went and met up with them shortly after that, and M.M. tagged along with them.

M.M. collapses on a couch in Mukuro's wagon and groans. "I never ever want to work for free again. _Ever_."

"You can have a shiny rock from my wagon if it makes you feel better," Harry offers. M.M. is instantly reenergised.

"Fucking gold-digger," Ken mutters. M.M. hisses at him, he growls back.

Chikusa's parrot squawks, "Stupid! Stupid!" from its perch on his head.

"What did you say?!"

It devolves into a shouting match between M.M., Ken, and the parrot. Harry laughs and leans against Hayato. "We should celebrate," she says. "We brought down a human trafficking network."

Mukuro kufufus. Hayato glares at him, then at her. "I _still_ can't believe that 'verifying something' turned into 'investigating human trafficking rings disguised as civilian businesses'. All over Europe! And you got the Vindice involved! How did you even do that?!"

"Via the phone?"

"I swear to God," Hayato mutters.

"Well, it went a lot faster after that, didn't it?" Harry defends herself.

"They really didn't like civilians playing at being Mafia," Mukuro comes to her aid.

"No one asked you, pineapple!"

"Hari-chan! You're baaaack!" Skull swings in through the window.

"Skull-sensei!" Harry catches him and hugs him before sitting him on her shoulder. "And Oodako! I missed you guys!"

Oodako waves. So cute. Harry needs to get an animal partner of her own. Something to look into, she supposes.

"I hope you weren't lonely without us here?" Harry asks.

"Nah. Always got something to do. The Great Skull-sama never rests!"

"Except when he sleeps twelve hours of the day," Hayato mutters under his breath. Harry stifles a laugh, Mukuro doesn't.

Mukuro had... well. Not really mellowed out. He also hadn't left, so she counts that as progress. (But then, where would he go? His minions had all found a home at the circus, Harry had seen to that.)

He and her hadn't really gone back to their soul-baring conversation. Mukuro had fled into witty banter if conversation even _looked_ like it was going in the general direction of seriousness.

It would take time, she supposes.

"I wasn't lonely at all while you were traveling Europe without me, oh no! I don't need to fight crime to have fun, not me!" Skull-sensei declares.

"That's great!" Harry says into the sudden guilty silence of her friends. "You're super awesome!"

"I know!" Skull-sensei crows. "And guess what, my friend Nick's visiting!"

"The one with the stone?" Harry asks. "Cool! Can I meet him?"

"Sure! Actually, he's here for you." Skull lowers his voice to a stage whisper. "He says he needs a thief."


	20. 097 - 100

**097 - The Saga of the Not-So-Shiny Rock: Old Man Nick**

Skull-sensei's friend Nick looks normal. Utterly normal. He seems to be around thirty years old, brown hair greying at the sides - but then, he'd been around for ages and ages, greying hair is probably normal when you're that old, even if you are immortal.

He has fabulous fashion sense, though. Harry would really like to know where he got his Hawaiian shirt from. It's so colourful.

"Yo! Old Man Nick!" Skull-sensei shouts. "This is my super-awesome student Hari-chan! Hari-chan, this is Old Man Nick!"

"Hi, Old Man Nick!" Harry greets cheerfully.

"Greetings, Hari-chan," Nick answers equally cheerful. "Skull wouldn't shut up about you."

"It's because I'm awesome," Harry chuckles.

"Humble, too," Mukuro comments.

"And those guys are the newest circus members!" Skull-sensei makes a grand, all-encompassing gesture to include Hari's friends - all of them had piled in after her and Skull-sensei.

"How wonderful, to see young people joining Skull." Mr. Nick smiles. It's an old-man smile. There are no wrinkles in his face except for a few laugh lines, but his smile is what Harry imagines a grandfather's to look like. His eyes, too, they are old-man eyes. Clear, aquamarine eyes that seem to laugh at the world, not in mockery but in appreciation. Overall, he seems like a cool guy.

"So Mr. Nick, you need a thief?" she asks. "'Cause if so, I'm totally your girl." Behind her, Hayato groans in exasperation.

"I'm glad to hear that, Miss Hari," he answers with a smile. "Please, have a seat, the details will take a while to explain."

"Sure thing!" Harry sits down on a couch and whips out pen and paper for taking notes which would be a bit hard what with Skull jumping into her lap with Oodako clinging to his head. Hayato throws himself down next to Harry before Mukuro can and steals pen and paper from her which is totally fine, Hayato is way better at note-taking than she is (she always ends up drawing little bikes and mosquitoes and fun stuff at some point.) Mukuro gives him a threateningly indulgent smirk and sits on the couch's backrest, his legs wedged between Harry and Hayato.

"Idiots," caws Chikusa's parrot, which sits on the boy's shoulder. Chikusa could totally be a pirate. Harry makes a mental note to buy him a costume.

M.M. sniffs disdainfully and primly sits on the arm rest next to Harry. Ken remains standing next to Mukuro, Chikusa takes up position on the other side.

It is amazing how six kids, a baby, an octopus, and a parrot can fit themselves on and around a couch meant for two people. "Everybody comfortable?" Harry asks.

"Stop kicking me, you damn pineapple!" Hayato snaps.

"My bad, I'm so sorry, Hayato-chan," Mukuro bullshits with a smile.

Hayato's eyebrow twitches. "No need to apologise for an _accident_ ," he grits out. "You can't help being _idiotically_ clumsy."

"You are such a kind person, Hayato-chan." Mukuro's eyebrow twitches, too.

"So!" Harry claps her hands. "These guys are my friends, they are utterly awesome and I couldn't ditch them for the super-important job debriefing, I hope you don't mind."

"Please," M.M. sniffs, grabbing Harry's hand and clasping it. "As your best friend, I would _never_ let you go on a high-profile and _lucrative_ job on your own, Hari-tan!"

" _I'm her best friend, you damn gold-digger!_ " Hayato hisses at her.

"That's true," Harry agrees. "But you can be my best friend who is also a girl, if you want?"

" _Only_ friend who is also a girl," Ken snickers in the background. "Ow!"

"See? Totally awesome friends!" Harry beams at Nick.

"I can see that," the man says with a smile. "May I ask if everyone is _aware_?"

Owlish blinks all around.

"He's talking 'bout magic!" Skull laughs obnoxiously. "Your faces are so dumb!"

"Well, he coulda said so!" Harry defends herself. "I mean, it's not like magic's such a big secret!"

Mr. Nick coughs delicately. "Actually, it is."

Hayato facepalms. "Seriously, Harry."

"Oops?"

"Seeing as everyone here knows about it already, no harm done," Mr. Nick says reassuringly. "Now, shall we move on to business?"

"Okay." Harry raises pen and paper before she remembers that Hayato has them, and boy does she look stupid now. Oh well. "So what's the problem?"

Mr. Nick leans back in his seat and steeples his fingers. If he weren't wearing his awesome Hawaiian shirt, he'd look downright serious. "Last summer, an old friend of mine offered to help me with a rather delicate matter - I am in possession of an artifact of vast power, the Sorcerer's Stone."

"The rock that makes you not age and turns stuff into gold?" Harry asks. M.M. suddenly sits up very straight.

"That's the one." Mr. Nick leans forward. "Albus, my friend, informed me that the stone was being targeted by a very dangerous criminal, one that would stop at nothing to acquire it, and must be prevented from doing so at all costs. I immediately decided to take the stone from the vault I had been keeping it in and hide it elsewhere, but Albus offered to hide it for me instead, seeing as an enemy would not expect me to give an object so important to anyone else."

"Kufufu..." Mukuro chuckles. "And now your _friend_ won't give it back?"

"Oh, that is quite possible, young man. Albus has opinions on people dragging out their lifespans beyond the natural, though I doubt that would be a reason for him to keep it from me." Mr. Nick chuckles, and Harry wonders why because that is not funny at all. "He will, however, attempt to convince me to let him destroy the stone on account of it being tempting for half-dead criminals to use. He would even do it without my agreement if he feels the risk justifies it."

"Absolutely not!" M.M. shrieks. Ken winces at the high pitch of her voice.

"You'll die, Nick!" Skull shouts in horror.

"Oh, Skull, after such a long life, my wife Penny and I do not fear death." Mr. Nick smiles. "It would be a bit inconvenient, admittedly. We already booked a trip to the Spanish Riviera for our next anniversary, and it would be such a shame to have to cancel it. But overall, I would not blame Albus for doing what he feels is right."

"That's _horrible_ ," Harry says quietly. "He's supposed to be your _friend_."

Mr. Nick chuckles. "You are very young, Miss Hari. Once you have lived as long as I have-"

" _No,_ " Harry snaps. "Age has _nothing_ to do with it. You don't sacrifice your friend on the off chance that some arse might maybe do something. Friends are _precious_ and you're supposed to _protect_ them. Or talk to them so they know to protect themselves! Going behind their backs like that makes this Albus a _shitty_ friend." Harry glares at Mr. Nick. "You need higher standards if you think somebody like that can be called friend. And this is _me_ who's saying that. _Me_ , whose standards are already kinda _weird_."

"Amen to that," Mukuro and Hayato mutter in sync, and then glare at each other. Everyone nods in agreement to their statement, even Oodako. Then again, Oodako is the smartest person in the room.

Mr. Nick smiles. "Be that as it may, as I said, I do not mind Albus' shenanigans. What I _do_ mind, however, is that he chose to hide the stone in the magical school he is headmaster of and continues to do so even though the criminal after it has obviously caught wind of its location and a student already got hurt."

"Why?" Hayato asks, eyes narrowed.

"A trap," Mukuro breathes.

"My thoughts exactly," Mr. Nick says grimly. "He wants to catch this criminal, and he feels it justifies the risk to his charges. I, however, do not agree. And that is why I would like you to take the stone back and leave a public message that it is back in my possession."

"Sure thing," Harry agrees immediately. "Where is it?"

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Mr. Nick answers, and Harry freezes.

The magical world is the last place she ever wants to go. She'd even refused to do any magic since learning about her status there, since learning that they would take her and erase her memories, erase the memories of her friends. She'd rather _die_ than let that happen.

"Though where specifically in the castle, I couldn't say," Mr. Nick continues, oblivious. "I am told, though, that the students have been warned off a certain corridor on the third floor under threat of death, which seems quite counter-productive to the secrecy of the operation."

Hayato grabs Harry's hand and squeezes. _You don't have to go,_ he tells her wordlessly.

But she'd said she would, and Harry isn't the kind of person to go back on her word. Besides. She'd already faced Britain and Vernon. You grow with your challenges, right? She could do this, she _would_ do this.

Hayato leans over and whispers into her ear, "Get that bullshit out of your head. _You_ aren't going, _we_ are, woman."

And just like that, the fear goes away.

"What about the wards and stuff?" Skull-sensei asks, frowning. "Hogwarts is hard to get into."

"Oh, that won't be a problem," Mr. Nick's smile turns into a devious grin. "I wasn't alive yet when they built it, but two centuries ago I took care of the whole renovation of the castle. I know _a lot_ of secret passages."

Well then.

What could possibly go wrong?

"Now, we should discuss payment." Mr. Nick smiles. "What do you wish for, Miss Hari?"

Harry narrows her eyes. "You're going to be my friend," she declares. "Since obviously you're an idiot about stuff like that, so I'm gonna show you how to do it _right_. Also, I want a shirt like you have, it's pretty."

Mr. Nick blinks slowly. Then he starts laughing. "Ahh, what a precious girl you are. If that is all you wish for, I will gladly fulfil it."

"And money!" M.M. shrieks. "Hari-tan also wants money! Lots and lots of money!"

"More material payment would not be remiss, kufufu," Mukuro chuckles.

Harry rolls her eyes. "Ignore them," she advises Mr. Nick. "They're _weird_ about shiny stuff."

Really, what good would money do her if she didn't know just _where_ to get a Hawaiian shirt that awesome?

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **098 -** ** **The Saga of the Not-So-Shiny Rock:** Albus Dumbledore**

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is a man of many talents and great influence. He is revered, and if he may say so himself, his reputation is well-earned.

However, that doesn't mean he's without flaws, and he is quite aware of that. But being who he is, the one to lead the fight against the Dark, the one that everyone relied on, he rarely has a choice in his actions. No one to confide in - well, there is Severus, but the man had been very much at odds with Albus since finding out about the disappearance of Harriet Potter.

Albus' gravest failure, one that he deeply laments - he should have listened to Minerva back then, but how could he have known? How could he have known that Vernon Dursley had been a very sick man and Petunia's heart too spiteful to care for young Harriet the way she should have?

And how could Albus have been so careless? Even when he had gone to see them the first time after Hagrid returned in tears, wailing about young Harry having been _abducted_ , Albus had seen fear for a family member instead of fear of discovery in the Dursleys. He had reassured them, grieving for the family that had been torn apart so cruelly.

But Albus, most powerful wizard of several generations, kept up with muggle news, and the death, no, the _murder_ of Vernon Dursley had featured for days, speculations were still going on weeks after, it was even addressed by muggle politicians.

Vernon Dursley had been found brutally murdered with words, _messages_ carved into his skin, horrible ones, ones that Albus recoiled from thinking too deeply off. Investigations had turned up horrific things, spread out all over the news. And Albus had realised that maybe, young Harriet hadn't been abducted at all.

He'd visited Petunia once again, found the woman a shadow of herself, shunned and reviled by the neighbourhood, in the process of selling the house because apparently her late husband had left her with debts to settle. Albus had offered help, of course, because surely the girl she once was, the sweet girl that had so longed to be magical, she could be gently guided back on her feet? But Petunia had finally revealed her true spiteful and bitter self.

 _"Freak! Come to laugh like you did when you dumped that freakish spawn of my bint of a sister on us? Good riddance! I hope she's dead just like Lily! Now leave! Don't think I don't know that freaks like you killed Vernon! And framed him! When will you ever be satisfied! But one day, you'll all get what's coming to you!"_

She'd continued to shriek at him. Blaming him for her husband's choices, for her son being taken by child services, for everything.

He'd left. She didn't know what had happened to her niece, he'd confirmed it with legilimency. And as much as Albus would have liked to help her, he could not help those who did not want to be helped, so he had set his mind and resources to finding Harriet, but try as he might, no tracking spell could locate her. But he doubted that she was dead - the prophecy stated she could be killed by Tom Riddle's hands only, and Albus clung to that belief.

But there was something he _did_ know for sure: She had disappeared in Italy.

And for the past weeks Albus had cleared his schedule so that he could investigate in the country himself.

.

.

.

If he had known that the very night he left for Italy was the night that the reason for his leaving would break into Hogwarts, he would probably have been very put out.

It was also the very night Voldemort made a grab for the stone, but all in all, that fact was pretty negligible.

Albus never did find out until _years_ later.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **099 - The Saga of the Not-So-Shiny Rock: It is not a picnic**

Hayato thought it would be a bit like old times, when it was Harry and he against the world, going on jobs as partners. He was wrong.

"This isn't a fucking picnic!" he snarls at the pineapple.

"Kufufufu, of course it is not," the addressed infuriating bastard answers with a punch-inducing smirk.

"I don't see any magic," the stupid gold-digger complains. "Or gold. They use gold for money, and I don't see any."

"What kinda stupid idiot would leave money lying around, you idiot?" Ken asks loudly.

Everyone looks at Harry, the girl who uses _shiny rocks_ as paperweights and warns people not to slip on them. "Hm?" she asks. "What're you all staring at?"

Hayato pinches the bridge of his nose. Oodako pats his shoulder. Skull laughs obnoxiously from atop his head, having decided that seeing as Hayato is taller than Harry, he makes a better vantage point.

"Arr!" Chikusa's parrot, now wearing an eyepatch and a pirate hat, caws. Chikusa's normal beanie had gotten exchanged for a matching pirate hat, too, and nobody knows how Harry managed to talk him into that. It probably involved cookies. A lot of cookies.

"Kufufu," Mukuro chuckles and ruffles Harry's hair. "You are so _adorably_ oblivious."

"Don't mess with the hair." Harry glares at Mukuro, except she sucks at glaring and ends up looking even more adorable than before.

Hayato is just glad that none of them have hit puberty yet. He just knows it'll get even worse then. He already wants to punch everyone looking at Harry.

He'd have to bring the shitty doctor in. Say what you want about him, but in regard to boys he's almost as protective of Harry as Hayato is.

 _Now_ , however, is not the time to be worrying about that. They are on a job! Probably the most important job Harry has ever accepted, and it is in the magical world! The magical world that wants to take her away and push her into a little hero-niche where she'd be treated like an odd curiosity, stared and gawked at like an animal, judged for not _fitting_ her mold forever. And here their group is smack-dab in the middle of a magical school, everyone tagging along like it's a goddamn picnic outing, and the only reason Hayato accepts this is because Harry had looked so stupidly happy when everyone declared their intentions to accompany her.

 _Deep breaths, Hayato. Don't blow your fuse. This is important. You don't want to get caught, right?_

"I think it's this way!" Skull points at a stairway, the foot of which chooses that exact moment to move.

Moving stairways. Honestly? That's dangerous! What if someone falls off? And it's highly impractical if someone wants to be punctual for classes.

Of course, Harry being Harry, whispers, "That is _so_ cool."

If Hayato didn't know better, he'd say she likes the castle of Hogwarts. But he _does_ know better. The ever present stone walls, the imposing architecture, the whispering portraits, the feel of traditions and _rules_ dominating the place - there is a reason Harry has a Stealth Sphere drawn up around them to hide their very presence and noise, and common sense is not that reason.

"Which way is it now, stuntbaby?" Mukuro asks with an annoyed frown, obviously he has the same opinion of moving staircases not under his control that Hayato does, which just pisses Hayato off.

"Ehehehe... up?" Skull asks. "So sue me, it's been a while since the Other Guy went to school here!"

 _Do not punch Harry's teacher, do not punch Harry's teacher_.

"Will that staircase return?" Hayato asks tersely.

"Depends on the weekday! And the lunar cycle! And the mood of the castle!" Skull returns cheerfully.

"That makes sense!" Harry grins and walks up to where the stairway used to be and where now gapes a ledge. They are on the fifth floor, courtesy of the labyrinth that is Hogwarts' corridors and stairways and Skull's idiotic sense of orientation had not helped. "Nope, we can't jump that," she decides. "Well, I could and Hayato has his grappling hook gun, and if we make Oodako big enough we could go over there..."

"Or we could take the stairs to the seventh floor!" Skull suggests. "I know the way from there!"

"That's what you said on the fourth, first, and second floors!" M.M. shrieks.

"You said it on the _third fucking floor_ , too!" Ken adds. "We were already there and you said, hey let's take this shortcut! And look where we are now!"

"But I really know the way now!" Skull protests. "There's this room that turns into anything you want, it'll give us a way to the third floor!"

"That sounds fun, let's do it!" Harry decides cheerfully.

"We aren't here to sightsee, woman!" Hayato groans.

"But we might as well since how often is it that we see a _magical castle_?" Harry asks with big puppy eyes, and that's that.

They do in fact make it to the room. Though when they enter...

"What did you ask for," Hayato snaps.

"A room with funny magic stuff!" Harry beams at Hayato. "Oh come on, we've got all night!"

M. M. squeals and runs into the cavernous room. "Oh look, this is _gold_. And this is - who would even throw this away? It's only a little scratched!"

"It _does_ look interesting," the pineapple muses and eyes a trident leaning next to a shelf.

Harry turns big puppy eyes on Hayato. So do Skull, Kun, and Chikusa's parrot. Oodako pats Hayato's head, sharing his misery.

"One hour! Not a minute more!" Hayato snarls. "And don't touch anything that feels odd to you and has blood on it!"

There is a _very_ creepy feel to some of the shit lying around. Hayato sticks to Harry closely, because that is the last thing he needs, Harry _jumping into a cupboard that makes her vanish,_ "Godfuckingdammit woman!"

"Okay, that was weird," she admits when she stumbles out five minutes later, and Hayato thinks if his hair weren't already silver, it'd be white now. He grabs her and holds her close to him.

"Don't you ever do that again!" he growls.

"I'm sorry," she mumbles. She's trembling. "I didn't mean to worry you. C'mon, let me disintegrate that thing."

That plan, Hayato can get behind.

"Vacation after this," he grumbles. "You and me. No one else. We'll find someone to teach us about Storm Flames and otherwise do _nothing_."

"Okay," she says. "But I've got some shit to get through first. You know, finding Mr. Nick's rock, then there's this magical seminar thingy where I'll learn to control accidental magic, nevermind that I haven't done any in years, and after that is training with the Varia..."

"Training with the Varia. Right." Now Hayato is glad that the Psycho Prince is so attached to him and keeps nagging Hayato to visit. Because no way is Harry going to stay with the Varia without _some_ supervision. "But after that, _vacation_."

Harry nods, shooting him a worried look. "I really am sorry for doing stupid stuff and making you worry."

"Let's just get out of this fucking room," Hayato mutters, and lights himself a cigarette.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **100 - The Saga of the Not-So-Shiny Rock: Obstacle Course**

They all make it out of the room okay. Well, mostly okay, Harry's still pretty shaken because catching a ride in the wormhole cupboard of multidimensional travel was not as fun as one might imagine. At least she isn't the only idiot here, Chikusa's parrot is now a canary, and M.M. had to get saved from an evil possessed diadem by Mukuro.

"It was shiny!" M.M. defends herself, clinging to Harry. In her other hand she's clutching a flute she found, one that apparently can do stuff with music.

"Your reasoning sounds like mine," Harry muses. M.M. pales and lets go instantly.

Mukuro pokes the diadem on the ground with his new trident, chuckling ominously. "What a delightful adventure this is turning out to be, kufufufufu."

He really must be happy. That was a pretty high number of fus after the ku.

"Disintegrate that thing," Hayato orders, staring at the diadem with disgust.

Harry doesn't hesitate. It takes a bit to get the right kind of determination to make her Flames turn red, they're blue ones at first which makes her and M.M. nice and calm. But when she gets it right, she slams the Storm Flame-filled hand on the diadem.

It shrieks, and then _something_ slams into Harry and catapults her out of the room.

So yeah. Mostly fine.

"It didn't even have a scratch," Hayato mutters, utterly shocked as he routinely checks Harry over for injuries. The others hover worriedly. "Those were _Storm Flames_. Nothing is more destructive than _that_."

"Maybe Sky Flames would work..." Skull murmurs, looking shaken himself. "That was really dark magic." He shudders.

"Is it really alright to just leave the thing there?" Harry asks worriedly. "Because anyone could stumble over it."

"Not to worry, dear Harry," Mukuro says. "I flung it into the deeper recesses of the room and drew a Mist barrier around it. No one aside from us two or Mists of comparable Flame Purity will be able to find it, and they would have to look for it first."

"Goody," Harry mutters. "I dunno about you guys, but I'm done sight-seeing."

Agreeing nods all around.

"Oh, I got you something!" Ken holds out a bag for her. It's blue with silver stitching, really pretty. "It's a bag of holding! You know, since you've got to carry everything you steal and your pockets aren't that big! I dumped out the shit that was in it! There was a whole desk inside!"

Harry beams at him. "Thank you, Ken! That's super nice of you!" He preens.

"Suck-up," caws Chikusa's parrot-turned-canary while its owner shakes his head at Ken.

Hayato paces in front of the temporarily empty door, and then they head into a tunnel and end up in a dusty corridor before a door, behind which ominous growls sound.

"On second thought," Hayato begins.

"Screw this job," M.M. finishes.

"Open that door!" Ken growls, ears twitching at the growls. Harry shoots him a slightly worried look, he looks really angry all of a sudden. She picks the lock, and he rushes in. And then there's a second set of growls, which turns to yips and doggy laughter.

They look inside. There's a giant _three-headed_ dog rolling on the ground with Ken, stubby tail wagging like mad while the boy scratches his stomach. A nameplate on a collar says _Fluffy_. Chains hold the animal, not allowing it to go far from the wall.

"I'm gonna keep him!" Ken declares. "Look what they did to him!"

Harry disintegrates the chains. One of the heads licks her hand in thanks. "We'll pick him up on the way back and take him to the circus," she says resolutely, because there are some things she absolutely cannot tolerate. Being imprisoned and chained is one of them, animal cruelty another.

There is a trap door that they obviously have to climb through. Harry conjures up an illusion-lamp. "There's a plant down there. Tentaclemonsterish," she reports.

Hayato pushes her to the side and throws dynamite down. Solves the problem.

They head on down.

"Seriously?" Harry is not impressed. Lots of flying keys, and broomsticks to the side, what the fuck is this supposed to be?

"Maybe we're supposed to ride the broomsticks," M.M. suggests. "Volunteers? I'm wearing a skirt, I won't do it."

"It is unnecessary," Chikusa says dully and pulls his yo-yos. The hail of needles destroys the delicate wings of the keys. Harry winces at that, but it gets the job done and really, they were inanimate objects. With animate wings, sure, but the point is, they didn't _live_. And it is rare enough that Chikusa talks, so she gives him a smile and a mouthed thanks. He nods curtly, then they begin looking for the right key.

"Okay," Harry states on looking into the next room. "Chess. I suck at that."

"Ha-HA!" Skull crows. "It is _my_ time to shine!"

" _You_ play chess," Hayato states incredulously.

"Nope! But I've got a giant octopus! GO OODAKO!"

And that is that.

"Not fair!" huffs M.M. "The next room is mine!"

She stalks over and rips the door open. Infernal stench and a roar greet her. She shrieks and jumps back. Her fingers put the flute she found in the room of evil shit to her mouth. The roar stops as a lovely melody rings out. Soon after, snores sound.

M.M. lets the flute sink. She grins. "I _like_ this."

"What the fuck _is_ that thing?!" Ken yelps when they look at what M.M. just defeated. A giant grey-skinned thing in a loincloth, with a giant club next to it.

" _Mio Dio_ , how long is this goddamn obstacle course," Hayato groans.

"Kufufu... are you tired, Hayato-kun?" Mukuro laughs.

"No, just very fucking _annoyed_! What's next, a dragon?"

"No, next is alcohol!" Harry cheers when she sees the bottles.

"Fuck, no. The last thing we need is a drunk illusionist."

Fire wells up all around them.

"Okay, now what?" Harry asks. "Hey, there's a piece of paper!"

"Gimme that!" Hayato reads out a riddle. "This shit is way too easy," he snarls. "Not even a challenge!" He points at the bottles. "According to this, that bottle gets you through the fire, that one gets you through the other fire, these two are wine and the rest is lethal poison."

"Dibs on the alcohol!" Skull-sensei and Harry shout simultaneously before staring at each other.

"There's two bottles," Harry says. "Let's share!"

Hayato throws both bottles into the fire. Spoilsport.

"Now what do we do?" Mukuro asks, frowning. "There isn't enough for all of us to go through. There isn't enough for all of us to go _back_!"

"That's what _you_ think!" Skull laughs and grabs the smallest bottle with hands wreathed in lavender-coloured Flames. The stuff inside begins multiplying. "Ha-HA! Nothing is impossible for the Great and Immortal Skull-sama!"

"Oh come on!" Harry complains. "I feel so useless now! How come everyone but me gets to do awesome stuff!"

"But Hari-chan, we're a team!" Skull-sensei spreads his arms magnanimously. "Everyone is equally important!"

"We don't even have a team name," she complains.

"Team Death-and-Doom," Mukuro suggests.

"Team Skull!"

"Team Jewel-Snatch!"

It devolves into a shouting match. "Everybody shut up!" Harry shouts. "I declare myself team leader with Hayato as my right hand, and I say we are from now on Team UMA!"

"What." Mukuro's voice is utterly deadpan.

Hayato grins at him triumphantly. "I _like_ it."

"What's that even _mean_!" Ken whines.

"Unidentified Mysterious Animal," Harry answers, exchanging fist-bumps with Hayato. "We've got the animal parts down, and we're mysterious as shit! So it fits!"

"And the 'unidentified' part?" M.M. sneers.

Harry illusions masks on their faces. Venetian masks, to be precise. She'd seen some in a museum once. A magpie one with pretty feathers for her, a golden one with musical notes on it for M.M., a wolf for Ken, a canary for Chikusa, and a leopard for Hayato. Skull doesn't get one, he has his helmet already, but Mukuro gets -

"Hell _no_ ," he glares at Harry from behind his pineapple mask, shatters it, and replaces it with a pest doctor mask. "Much better."

M.M. examines herself in a compact mirror. "This looks _good_!"

"I'll get you the original when I've got time!" Harry promises. "Are we all good? Then let's go! Team UMA, setting out!"

They step through the fire.


	21. 101 - 103

**101 - The Saga of the Not-So-Shiny-Rock: Mirror Mirror**

Sadly, there isn't a dragon waiting for Team UMA on the other side of the fire. Too bad, really, Harry would have liked one. A small one, though.

Instead, there is a mirror. A big and old-looking one in the middle of the room.

"What the - why isn't there a dragon?!" Skulls shouts.

"Maybe the stone is in the mirror," Mukuro muses and strolls up to it. He looks and freezes.

"Muku-chan?" M.M. asks. "Are you alright?" She runs up and shakes him. Then she looks into the mirror and squeals. "Guys, you gotta look at this! I'm rich! Everybody loves me! I'm - I'm," she laughs incredulously. "My parents are there! And everyone..." she stumbles closer, fingers desperately reaching for the glass.

"I gotta see this," Skull decides and hops from Hayato's head on hers. He begins laughing, too. "This is _great_! I'm back to being me! Without the Other Guy!"

Ken and Chikusa walk up, too, staring into the mirror with longing expressions.

"I don't like this thing," Harry whispers, hugging herself. Her eyes are on Mukuro, who stares so utterly lost and yearning into the mirror.

"Me neither. I'll get them to stop looking." Hayato walks up to them and begins dragging the team members away, except they resist. M.M. shrieks and claws at him, Skull doesn't even register him, and Ken shoves back, and then Hayato is looking into the mirror too, and the expression on his face breaks Harry's heart.

" _Mamma_ ," he whispers. "Harry, come look!"

Harry stares in horror. She _has_ to get them away from there, but if she looks into the mirror... Now it's clear why the previous obstacles were so easy to overcome - a trap like this could never be avoided. It is so much worse than deadly.

And if she tries to drag them away, they'd attack her. This was _bad_. How could she help them if she didn't know what the mirror _did_?

She can't look at it. Can't get captured, too. She's the only one left.

"It's not real, it's not real," she whispers, walking up to them. "Just a mirror. Images. Magic. Hayato, look at me." She gently grabs his face and pulls his head down so their foreheads rest against each other. "It's not real. But _I am_."

He shudders. Mist-addled eyes clear. They look so hurt, and sad. "Harry?" he whispers.

"I've got you." He shudders again.

"I..." he looks past her into the mirror again. "It's my mother. And you. And I'm a right-hand man. I'm strong, and you all are happy."

"Just a mirror," she answers.

"I know. _I know_." He laughs a choked laugh. "I can see it _now_ , but before..."

Harry walks up to Mukuro next and hugs him. He buries his face in her shoulder and sobs. "Shh," she whispers. "It's okay. I'm here. I've got you."

It seems like it takes eternity for him to calm down, before he pastes on a horribly brittle smile and goes to coax Ken and Chikusa back to reality. Hayato meanwhile is blocking M.M.'s and Skull's view. Harry sighs tiredly. She's so glad she chose the Mafia over the magical world - she doesn't think she could have dealt with any of this otherwise. Dimension-travel cupboards, evil diadems, and mind-breaking mirrors aren't for her. But she's still got to get that damn stone. They didn't get this far only to fail now. Besides, the others are fine now, so if she lost herself to the mirror, they could get her back.

Nodding resolutely, she looks into the mirror.

"Huh," she says.

"Harry, don't look into that thing!" Hayato shouts. Harry gives him a confused look.

"I don't get it," she says. "There's nothing there."

"What do you mean, nothing there?" Hayato demands. "You should be seeing - look, the inscription. It says 'I show not your face but your heart's desire' written backwards!"

"Oh," Harry says.

"Look again," Mukuro suggests. Harry shrugs and does as told.

It's still the exact same scene as before. The same scene any normal mirror would show. "Nope. Nothing."

"That's impossible!" Mukuro shouts. "You _must_ be wanting _something_! It's not fair that you get away without - without-"

She shrugs helplessly. "I don't know why I don't see the things that you see. I don't know why the mirror doesn't show you all happy together, because I would love to see you happy more than anything. I don't know why I don't see the world of ten years in the future, and I really do want to see it. I think - I think it's because I'm _exactly_ where I want to be - with the people I love. I don't really need anything more. I'm happy to be with all of you here even in this horrible place, and tomorrow I'll be happy to be with you at the circus, and in a month or two I'll be happy hanging out with my Varia friends. I guess I just really don't want to miss a second of time spent with you even if it's to skip to happier times."

Mukuro stares at her angrily. Jealously.

"You're you," Harry tells him once again. "It's okay."

He turns away.

One day, Harry thinks. One day he'd believe her.

Hayato put an arm around her shoulder. "So you don't know how to get the stone out?"

Harry shrugs. "We'll just take the whole mirror and leave it to Nick."

"I am afraid I cannot let you do that," an unfamiliar voice says. " _Incarcerous_!"

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **102 - The Saga of the Not-So-Shiny Rock: Recognition**

The ropes wrap around them for all but two seconds, then they've already freed themselves. Harry simply burned the ropes off of her body, Mukuro, Ken, and Chikusa have trained with Escapist Umberto at the circus to get out of chains and any kind of entrapment, Hayato trained with Colonello, M.M. was standing half behind him, the ropes didn't even reach her, and Skull is an Arcobaleno.

Mere ropes cannot hold any of them.

The wizard with the turban clearly did not expect that. He looks shocked for a second, then waves his wand at them. A red bolt heads straight for Harry, the smallest and most frail-looking of their group.

Except Harry is the strongest of them all aside from maybe Skull and slips out of the way with ease. "I've got this," she grits out, and throws Hayato the bag Ken gave her earlier. "Put the mirror in this."

Hayato bristles and gives the bag to M.M. "You heard her. Skull, help her. Ken and Chikusa, you defend them." He pulls out his dynamite.

Mukuro saunters closer from the other side, they form a half-circle around the wizard who doesn't look the least bit intimidated.

"Muggles," he sneers. "Thieves! Oh yes, Master, I will be glad to kill them!"

"Kufufu..." Mukuro laughs. It sounds eerie, coming from behind the pest doctor mask. "What a fool you are. Targeting the smallest of us-"

"What's Skull then, chopped liver?" Harry asks indignantly.

"Quiet, Magpie."

"Enough," a high voice, malevolent, _evil_ comes from the man, except he didn't move his mouth. And now Hayato senses it - that creepy, slimy feel, the same one that the diadem gave off.

Harry jerks. "I know your voice," she whispers.

The wizards suddenly snaps his fingers and ropes once again wrap around them. It's even less successful than the last time, all of them are _warned_ now. Mukuro slashes his trident through the air, Harry once again burns the ropes, and Hayato drops to the ground and rolls away. He throws his dynamite, but the wizard vanishes them into thin air. Mukuro makes lotus vines appear, but the bounce off an invisible shield. Harry just stands there, lips curled, head tilted, and Hayato knows that this is when she's at her most dangerous - when she _thinks_.

"You," she says slowly. "I know your voice. You are Voldemort. You killed my parents."

What?! This spindly worm of a man - no, Harry'd been talking to the other voice. The high, evil one. Possession? It has to be.

"Potter," the voice breathes. "Quirrel, seize her!"

"Yes, Master!" The man, Quirrel, suddenly brandishes a wand and lets colourful flashes of light fly at Harry, all while the voice keeps on talking about how cowardly she was not to come to Hogwarts in fear of him, Voldemort, and how it was all in vain since she would now die, anyway. Unless she joins him.

Hayato's dynamite was vanished the first time. The second time, he just uses them for the noise - the explosion startles the wizard, and Mukuro moves in from the other side, calling up that weird animal-controlling power he has, and dozens of snakes lunge for Quirrel.

And then something hisses, and the snakes turn on Mukuro, who conjures himself rats to fall on the snakes. "Fool! To use the sacred symbols of my ancestor, the great Salazar Slytherin, against me!"

And then the ground explodes under him, tiny dynamites Hayato had thrown there and Harry had hidden with her illusions. The man screams as he goes to the ground. It's not enough to blow his legs off, but first blood goes to them.

"And now you can tell us how the fuck you're still around when you shoulda died, bastard," Hayato growls.

"Kufufu, how pathetic, you worm," Mukuro crows, now done with the snakes. "Relegated to be a wraith, clinging to pathetic fools like that."

"You think this is enough to stop me!?" Quirrel waves his wand and his wounds heal, he jumps up and swipes his wand out, a whip of fire lashing out at them all at once. He and Mukuro both dive under it, Harry flips back nimbly, months of circus training giving her high flexibility.

She raises her arms, and what must be hundreds of mosquitoes lift off her body or turn visible while circling her. Harry snaps her arms forward, and they shoot forward at the man, Quirrel slashes his wand through the air again, the fire whip taking some of her mosquitoes, but others evade them, and set on the man, stinging him, injecting Mist and Rain Flames into his body. The effect is almost immediate, the guy stumbles in disorientation, tries to look at them, fails. Harry lets her arms sink. "Now," she asks. "How are you still around? And why did you kill my parents back then?"

Quirrel slurs something. Then his eyes suddenly turn red and he slashes his wand at her. Harry throws herself to the ground. "You thought you had me, but I, the great Voldemort, will not be cowed by-"

Yellow blurs slam into Harry limbs, her Sun Mosquitoes injecting pure Sun Flames into her muscles. Her eyes glow yellow, and she shoots forward, darting around spells, and then her fist crunches into Quirrels face, a knee follows into his gut, hit after hit slams into his body until he's a bloody pulp. The turban goes flying, revealing an ugly face growing out of the back of his skull, one that Mukuro takes great pleasure slashing his trident through.

The body flies up and Hayato throws his dynamite, the explosion tearing it apart. A cloud of black separates from it and flies away.

Finally, Harry's foot slams on the wand and breaks it.

"The hell were you thinking, woman?!" Hayato demands. "I thought we were going to keep him talking!"

"I was thinking he was annoying," Harry answers. "And I really didn't like him." The yellow fades from her eyes and fatigue kicks in. Mukuro catches her before she can fall and steadies her, a flicker of worry quickly hidden. "Let's go home," Harry says.

"Yeah," Hayato murmurs. "Let's."

The mirror all packed up in Harry's new bag, they make their way back. When they reach the chess room, out of nowhere, a man suddenly blinks in existence, whipping a piece of cloth from his body, a wand brandished at them. He doesn't bother asking questions, just straight out attacks them.

Oodako grows to elephant size and slams the guy into the ceiling. Problem solved.

"He dead?" Harry asks, and pokes him with her toes. "Ahh, nope. Still breathing." She scrunches up her nose. "God, wizards have no idea of proper hair care. Look at all that grease. Eww."

"What's this?" Hayato asks, holding up the piece of cloth.

"Ohh," Harry breathes. "Shiny!"

"An invisibility cloak!" Skull grins. "Wanna have it?"

"Seems impractical as hell," Hayato comments. "Can't shoot from under that thing. If I need invisibility, I'll just ask Harry to use illusions."

Skull shrugs. Then he looks at the cloak a bit closer before breathing in sharply and pocketing it.

"Can we go home now?" M.M. asks tiredly.

No one objects.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **103 - The Saga of the Not-So-Shiny Rock: A Spark of Sky**

They don't take the same way out that they used to get in. No, there's a hidden stairway that leads into a tunnel in something called the Owlery, a tunnel big enough for them to smuggle a giant three-headed dog through. Fluffy is coming with them, after all.

Also, Harry being Harry wants to check the place out.

It takes a bit of convincing, because Hayato is just super done with this place, but Harry wants to take at least one good memory from here. So they scuttle up the stairs, and even Hayato marvels at the sheer number of majestic birds, the diversity, the rustling of wings and the intelligent eyes. Harry laughs, delighted. And then breathes in sharply when she sees a bundle of white feathers on the ground, a few other owls like sentinels positioned around it. Harry approaches slowly, carefully.

It's got to be the most beautiful bird Harry has ever seen. Amber eyes stare into Harry's, and Harry just - sometimes she just knows things, like she knew that Skull was going to be her teacher, like she knew that Hayato would be her best friend in the entire world - and this owl, she's _Harry's_.

Oh, Harry thinks in a daze. She didn't think she had any Sky left in her. But there it is, a mere spark, but it is right _there_ , and all of it goes to the beautiful owl lying on the ground with broken wings, unlikely to ever fly again despite clearly being a queen, no, a _goddess_ of the sky.

This owl is the closest Harry will ever get to having a guardian.

She smiles tremulously. "Hi," she whispers, "I'm Harry. I'm going to take care of you. We're going to be supergreat friends."

She reaches out. Almost immediately, the other owls click their beaks warningly, puffing up warningly. Harry raises her hands. "Easy," she says soothingly. "I promise I'm not going to hurt her."

They stare at her suspiciously. Harry holds their glares with ease, because this is _important_ and the owl is _hers_ and they have a bond now.

The owl makes a soft cooing sound, and the others back down. Harry reaches out and gently picks her up, trying not to move the injured wings, and who would do something so horrible to a creature as beautiful as this? A noise of pain escapes the owl, and Harry calls up her Rain Flames, soothing the pain carefully, because too much might put the owl to sleep forever.

Hayato kneels down next to her, his jacket bunched up into a makeshift bed. "Here," he murmurs. "You can't carry her in your arms, it'll jostle her." Harry nods gratefully and transfers the owl onto Hayato's jacket while soothingly talking to her, introducing Hayato and telling her how great he is.

This is one of those things she loves the most about Hayato - he gets her, and in moments like these, he'll never attempt to talk sense into her. He'll let her be as kind as she wants to be, and never call her crazy for it.

"There's something on her leg," he says.

Indeed. There's a nameplate.

 _Hedwig_

 _Property of Draco Lucius Malfoy_

Harry glares before snapping the vile thing off. "She's no one's property. She's a goddess and deserves to have temples built in her honour, and if I catch whoever hurt her like that, they are going to _suffer_."

The owl, Hedwig, coos.

"Was it him?" Harry asks. "This Malfoy arse?"

Hedwig coos again, clicking her beak sorrowfully.

"You got it," Harry nods. She gives the other owls a short, solemn bow. "I promise I will protect her, and she _will_ fly again. You are all amazing friends and I'm very happy to have met you all." They stare at her, hundreds of inscrutable eyes. Then they all blink simultaneously, and Harry thinks she might have some new allies now.

She takes Hedwig carefully from Hayato who's staring at her in wonder. "I don't even know how you can still surprise me, woman," he says, shaking his head with an exasperated grin.

Harry smiles back. "You surprise me, too, y'know?"

The most surprising thing is probably that he stuck around her for so long, even though she's a giant black hole for trouble and danger.

They leave the owlery, Harry carefully measuring her steps and so glad for her thief's gracefulness because the last thing she wants is to jostle Hedwig. On the way, she notes that there's a small owl sitting on Mukuro's shoulder - a screech owl, Harry thinks, though she isn't entirely sure. The owl is adorable, though, small, with reddish feathers and huge pale yellow eyes that make it constantly look like Mukuro did that one time Harry caught him raiding the kitchen for cookies in the middle of the night. Mukuro shoots her a challenging look, she gives him a smile. It's great to see him make friends.

Hedwig trills something. Mukuro's owl answers with an ear-piecing screech that makes all of them flinch. Mukuro smirks in self-satisfaction. Harry rolls her eyes and very gently runs a hand over Hedwig's beautiful feathers. They feel surprisingly hard under her fingers, and silky at the same time.

The owl coos in delight, and Harry smiles happily.

For meeting Hedwig, the whole thing had been worth it.


	22. 104 - 108

**A/N: Because we all might need some cheering up today. I know I do.**

* * *

 **104 - The Saga of the Not-So-Shiny Rock: Blaise Zabini**

Blaise Zabini sips his coffee - specially requested from the house elves, no other student of Hogwarts gets coffee, and certainly not this luxury Italian brand - and enjoys life.

He also enjoys a good mystery and a little bit of chaos.

It had started most amusingly. Blaise had enjoyed his breakfast with Daphne Greengrass, a delightfully ruthless girl who might or might not be Mafia material.

As per usual, the owl post had come in over breakfast, a spectacle that was as impressive as ever.

Not so usual, the majority of owls had taken a little detour to empty their bowels over one Draco Malfoy. That had been most amusing for all of the school, and Blaise had resolved to buy Daphne a present for surreptitiously gluing Draco to his chair and the chair to the floor.

Of course, the Weasley Twins were the prime suspects, but they'd denied all accusations - one does not mess with owls, they know that from experience they'd said.

The whole thing had been most intriguing. It had almost distracted from the fact that Professor Quirrel of the fake stutter had vanished. (Seriously. The stutter had been so utterly exaggerated it simply _had_ to be fake. Kudos to Quirrel, though, he'd only forgotten to use it on one occasion, that being the time he reported the troll that wasn't in the dungeons. He also suspiciously never stuttered when using a spell, probably for self-preservation reasons. It was bloody obvious, Blaise had thought.)

Also missing was Professor Snape, which was equally as intriguing but less amusing, Blaise so enjoys observing him with Daphne and commenting on his swooping-bat routine. (Also hilariously exaggerated, but less intentional. Modern villains do not torment children and use verbal insult - the villains of today are subtle and manipulative, a disdainfully raised eyebrow saying more than a thousand words and indicating _real_ class. Proper hygiene is also important.)

Dumbledore was missing, too, but McGonnagall (now _she_ would make a _great_ villain) had made an announcement days ago that the headmaster would be on a business trip for a while, so it was not nearly as interesting. Dumbledore being mysterious was a recurrent theme, after all.

Mysteriously absent as she had been all year was Harriet Potter, but mullling over that had gotten old ages ago, the only ones who still ranted about that were Ronald Weasley and Draco Malfoy.

Now, a day after the Boy-Who-Got-Crapped-On incident, _that_ was when Blaise went from intrigued to _involved_. Dumbledore had come back, unlike Snape and Quirrel, an air of seriousness about him, something which the whole student body picked up on at least subconsciously. Then the owl incident repeated itself, though this time the sticking charm came from someone else - Blaise suspects Tracey - and the serious atmosphere vanished.

And then _it_ happened.

Mist Flames. Pure Mist Flames as they were used in the Mafia, at _Hogwarts_. Oh, this was _good_.

First there was a gong sound that had everybody's hair stand on end. Then the Great Hall ceiling went dark. And in glowing white script, a message had written itself .

 _My agent has taken the treasure back in my possession  
where it shall remain forever until such a time I decide to pass on.  
Best wishes,  
N. A. R. F._

 _PS: You are a horrible friend for trying to ruin Mr. N.A.R.F.'s vacation._

 _PPS: To Mr. Draco Malfoy. The Goddess Hedwig wishes you a dreadful life  
full of suffering. Good luck in getting rid of the shitty scent in this lifetime!  
PPPS: Kufufufufu._

And with a circus fanfare, the lights were back on and the ceiling back to normal, save for the mayhem of panicking students.

"Merlin and Morgana," Daphne had breathed, deathly pale. "Who could be so powerful as to _take over_ the ceiling?!"

"No one," Blaise answered her. "It was an illusion that merely blocked the view, the ceiling itself was untouched."

Though even that would take a Mist of considerable power, perhaps even more than one.

He takes a sip of his coffee - _ahh, bliss_ \- thinking those events over. Hedwig would be Draco's severely mistreated owl. N.A.R.F., he has no idea what those initials stand for. The treasure? Perhaps whatever was hidden in the corridor on the third floor.

Intriguing, intriguing.

Perhaps intriguing enough to leave his observer post and get in on the action?

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **105 - Healing Hedwig (I)**

Mafia Land is as chaotic as ever, which Harry doesn't appreciate as much as usual seeing as she has an injured owl goddess with her.

The vet back at the circus had set her broken wings and done what he could, but well. There's a better one on Mafia Land that knows everything about animal companions, so that's who Harry is trying to track down, the guy's clientele is apparently rather exclusive.

Which is why she's going to the training area in the back of the island in hopes of finding her good buddy Falco. She's got tea and cookies with her in her now mirror-free bag of holding, and she could introduce Hedwig to Falco, that'd be fun.

"You'll like him," Harry promises. "At least, I'm pretty sure you will. He's super cool, great taste in tea."

Hedwig trills something.

"Definitely more civilised than Fluffy," Harry promises. "No slobber at all. I love animals, but slobber I do not appreciate."

She climbs over a huge tree trunk that's probably part of an obstacle course.

"Holding up okay?" Harry asks. Hedwig sits on her shoulder, but Harry has a comfy bag to carry her in for when she gets tired. No cage, because _no_. One does not encage a goddess of the sky.

The owl nips Harry's ear affectionately. She giggles.

Her life is pretty good right now. Mr. Nick has his not-very-shiny rock back, Harry has an utterly awesome animal partner now, her friends are doing okay at the circus. Skull-sensei and Mr. Nick took care of his immortality problem, since apparently the cloak he picked up back at Hogwarts turned out to be one of those Hallow thingies, which means Harry doesn't have to steal those now, also the Other Guy is gone from Skull's head, so no creepy personality changes will occur. Harry doubts anyone will miss Beedle anyway. She certainly won't.

"Oi! What'cha doing, kora!"

Harry perks up. "'Sup, Commander!" She salutes. "I've got tea and cookies!"

Colonello hangs suspended in the air from Falco's claws. "Homemade cookies?" he asks.

Harry beams at him. "Of course! All kinds of cookies! With chocolate, and fruit, and jam, and ginger - not all at once of course, that'd be weird." She pulls plates and cups from her bag and arranges them on the tree trunk she just climbed over. "C'mon, have a seat!"

They fist-bump because Colonello is cool like that, then sit down. "Hedwig, this is Commander Colonello and his super-awesome partner Falco." Harry points at the huge white hawk. "Guys, this is my new partner, Hedwig the Magnificent, Goddess of the Skies and Queen Among Owls." Harry strokes the feathering of Hedwig's chest. The owl has puffed up proudly at Harry's introduction. Bless her, the fact she cannot fly right now hasn't done anything to dent the owl's confidence.

Falco nods at Hedwig respectfully before taking his teacup - Harry has no idea how he manages that, his wings must be something special - while Colonello salutes, sharp blue eyes on the bandages around Hedwig's wings.

"If you could tell me where I can find the vet, that'd be great," Harry says quietly.

"Sure thing, kora!"

They chat about stuff, the latest invasion that was apparently so badly planned that it barely deserved the name, what Hayato's been up to and how cool he is. "He's on the island actually. He mentioned he'd look for you?" Harry adds, which makes Colonello grin evilly.

"Great! Gonna test his skills then!"

Meanwhile, Falco and Hedwig have their own conversation in bird-speak which Harry isn't yet fluent in, and seem to be having a good time.

It's a pretty good day, the cookies are the shit, and Colonello is completely shameless in taking all of the leftovers with him in a box which is great, it's so annoying when people pretend they don't want to impose when Harry gives them cookies freely.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()

 **106 - Healing Hedwig (II)**

Sadly, the vet can't really help beyond setting Hedwig's bones better and giving Harry a bunch of medicine. He does, however, comment on Hedwig's beauty and strength, and recommends a few suggestions for 'the cock-sucking son of a bitch that did that to that brilliant lady'. Harry takes notes.

Occasionally, she holds grudges, and she's one mean brat when she's mad, just look at the Estraneo. And Vernon.

"Anyway, don't be too down," Harry tells Hedwig as they walk through the streets of Mafia Land in search of Hayato. Hedwig has mad people-finding skills, she's a great help. "I made a promise, and I keep my promises."

Hedwig gives her a look that says Harry should stop reassuring her because she wouldn't have bothered tolerating Harry's company if Harry were the type to break promises. Also, owls can be badass without being able to fly, though Harry's efforts are noted and appreciated.

See, Harry is getting better at bird-speak.

"Okay, okay," she laughs. "I'll stop. Anyway, our next stop will be my friend Verde who's the smartest person in the entire universe, even smarter than Hayato! I'm pretty sure he can help. And if he can't, I can figure out something with Mist Flames, though I'd have to ask an expert for that... oh look! An expert!" Harry grins and heads on over. "Hi Mammon! Long time no see!"

The floating baby turns to her. "Harietta. Mou, how unexpected."

Harry's pretty sure that it wasn't unexpected at all, but whatever. "This is my new partner Hedwig the Magnificent, Goddess of the Skies and Queen Among Owls," Harry introduces the owl.

Mammon nods at the owl. "I assume you picked her up during your stint to Hogwarts."

Harry blinks. "Is that why you tracked me down here?"

No answer, which is also an answer.

"Okay," Harry says. "How 'bout you come over to Hayato's and my appartment, I cook us dinner, and we'll trade questions and answers? I've got some stuff to ask you, too. Plus, you get free dinner and not to brag, but I kick arse in the kitchen."

"Very well." The baby floats after her. "Mou, your friend is not in?"

"Probably not." Harry shrugs with one shoulder, the other is occupied by an owl deity. "Commander Colonello said something about testing his skills, so I'll probably have to scrape him off the training ground floor or fish him out of the shark pool sometime this night."

"I see."

Harry leads the way to their appartment complex close to the port. It's not the safest of areas and they could definitely afford better, but seeing as she and Hayato stay at the circus nowadays, they never bothered looking for a new place. They probably should, though, since Team UMA is pretty big now, it'd be good to have more space in case the others visited here.

On the other hand, though, their tiny appartment is very unlikely to have unwanted listeners, though Harry can use her illusions to keep anyone from overhearing anything.

"Here we are!" Harry gestures Mammon in. "What do you wanna eat? And drink?"

"Strawberry milk shall suffice. As for dinner, I cannot stand expensive foods, and spicy ones do not agree with me."

Harry nods. "You're lucky, I bought strawberries just this morning! Hold on, I've got the mixer here... do you want it sweet or should I hold off on the sugar?" She grabs milk from the fridge and then looks through the strawberries. All good, great.

"Mou, don't make it too sweet," Mammon orders. Harry nods and pours ingredients in the mixer. A minute later, they've got the most delicious strawberry milk.

"Voilà!" Harry presents the drink with a flourish and illusions up a tiny umbrella for laughs. Mammon scoffs and crushes it before drinking the milk.

"Acceptable," the baby decides.

"Cool! You alright with pasta for dinner? It'll be vegetarian, though. I don't eat meat, so we don't really have any in the fridge aside from bacon for Hedwig."

Only the best for Harry's partner.

"That shall be fine. You are vegetarian?"

"Totally Reborn's fault," Harry says. "I accidentally told him I was one, and then I was like, 'Oh crap! I lied to the World's Creepiest Baby!' And then I figured if I just became vegetarian right then, it wouldn't have been a lie, so here we are." She shrugs. "To be fair, I probably would've gone vegetarian anyway. I like animals."

Hedwig hoots in approval. Mammon says nothing, so Harry begins to cook, chattering away the entire time.

"What were you doing at Hogwarts?" Mammon asks once they're sitting at the table and eating.

"Favour for a friend who wanted a rock back." Harry shrugs. "Wasn't a whole lot of fun, but we got two owls and a three-headed dog out of the deal, so it's cool."

"Mou, you stole the _Philosopher's Stone_. And you simply gave it back?" Mammon asks incredulously.

"Well, what else would I have done with it? I don't really want to live forever, and I've never needed gold in my life." Harry shrugs. "I'm happy having friends, a place to sleep, clothes to wear, food to eat, I don't need more than that."

She'd been happy with just Hayato, living on the streets with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Nothing had really changed about that, except there are more people to be happy with.

"How curious," Mammon says blandly. "Mou, I thought you wanted to avoid that world."

"As I said, favour for a friend, besides, I didn't go alone." Harry gives Mammon a crooked smile. "And I've got that seminar thingy soon, so... can't get around it completely, right? Hey, can you tell me what it's going to be like?"

"I have never visited myself," Mammon admits. "I imagine you will meet a fair few Mafia children with magic, and some civilians who are uncomfortable with the idea of magic and so reject magical schooling. Perhaps a few magical children looking for extra credit. It does double as a seminar for wandless magic, after all."

"Do you think it's going to be hard? I haven't done any magic in years." Harry gnaws on her bottom lip. "What if I fail the course, are they going to put me into magic school?"

"The whole point is learning how to not do magic accidentally." Mammon sounds incredibly unimpressed with her worries. "You shall be fine, as you can already control Mist Flames, and magic is similar to that."

"Oh. Okay. Thanks!" Harry beams gratefully at the infant. "How'd you know I was at Hogwarts anyway?"

"You do not have the money the answer would cost you."

Harry shrugs. If Mammon doesn't want to tell her, that's fine. Everyone has their secrets.

"Okay. Can you answer me a question about Mist Flames? See, Hedwig's been hurt, and I want to help her. Sun Flames won't cut it here, they are for accelerating healing processes, and that's not gonna work for delicate operations." Harry runs a hand over Hedwig's feathers. "Can I use illusions to make her fly again? Or heal her?"

"There have been instances of Mists using illusions to fool their bodies into staying alive when they should have died. However, prolonged use is unhealthy and very strenuous, a temporary solution at best. You would do better to find a more material solution." Mammon pushes the now empty plate away. "Mou, I must be off."

"Sure thing, thanks! Drop by anytime, it was nice eating with you. D'you want a strawberry milk to go? There's still some left."

"Mou, why not."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()

 **107 - Healing Hedwig (III)**

"Please, please, please?" Harry turns her puppy eyes on Verde. Hedwig nips her ear sharply for the indignity.

Verde frowns.

"I'll pay for everything and sponsor your next research project!" Harry tries. "I've got too much money and shiny rocks anyway."

"Tch." Verde rights his glasses. "You are a troublesome child, Harietta."

"Sorry?"

"Quiet." Verde's eyes fix on Hedwig, examining her. Hedwig returns the look like the goddess she is. "How interesting. You have a bond with her, yes?"

Harry tilts her head. "You knew there was still some Sky left in me?"

"Of course." Verde sounds a bit offended. "It is merely surprising that it was enough to form a bond, even if it was not with a human."

"So... are you going to help?"

Verde shoots her an annoyed look. "I cannot fix bones as delicate as that. I can, however, replace the bones of her wings with new ones. A new skeleton for her wings, in layman's terms. There is a metal I can use, both extremely light, flexible, and durable. However, it is very costly and hard to acquire."

Harry points at herself. "Thief." Then she points at Hedwig. "Friend."

"Very well."

"You'll do it?!" A smile spreads over Harry's face. "You're the best!"

"As it so happens, my latest project is very costly, as it utilises gemstones and will likely take years, if not over a decade, to finish." Verde smirks deviously. "I will draw up the contract. There are a number of items I will need you to steal as well."

"Cool, we're gonna to be business partners!" Harry grins. "And Hedwig! You're gonna fly again! Isn't that great?" She picks up the owl and spins around the room. "And then we can go on jobs together, and you can help me steal stuff, and it'll be _awesome_."

"She will be a much stronger and faster flyer than any average owl," Verde adds. "Harietta, you will also be needed for testing purposes, I suggest you become proficient at physically manifesting all of your Flame types."

"Oh, okay," Harry mumbles absently. "Even the Sky one? It's just a spark."

"It will likely be too small for what I will need," Verde agrees. "Nonetheless, learn. Your Flame situation is far too unique and useful for me not to make use of."

Harry shrugs.

He's a friend, so why not?

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()

 **108 - The Scuola di Magica: Prologue**

"Hi there!"

Startling Shamal is generally a Very Bad Idea and normally results in creative diseases inflicted on the culprits. Which Harry completely ignores, dropping in through the window and somehow completely avoiding a mosquito without consciously noticing it.

Shamal raises an eyebrow. "What're you doing here, kid? Something wrong?"

Harry grins at him guilelessly. "Nope! I missed you!"

Shamal makes a mental note to talk to Hayato about _boys_. She's eleven, almost twelve now, but give it a few years and she'll be _trouble_. That grin is devastating, and so is her smile. Worst thing is, it's all _genuine_.

"Look!" She points out the window. "I got an animal partner!"

Indeed. There flies a snowy owl and, "Are those metal tips on her wings?" he asks.

"Mmm," Harry nods proudly. "Hedwig's the most badass owl _ever_!"

Okay then. Good for her.

"So why are you here?" Shamal asks suspiciously. "Just to show off your companion?"

"Well... no," she admits sheepishly. Shamal rolls his eyes.

"What do you want, brat?"

"Uhm... " she shuffles awkwardly, which is a bit worrying, Harry normally doesn't _do_ awkward. "I wanted to ask for a favour."

Oh _great_. That's just what he needs, a Harry-situation. This would probably end in a headache, he knows from experience - they _had_ spent a year together. (There was the week where she randomly threatened people with defenestration, simply because she thought the word was awesome. Defenestrated herself a few times, too. _Troublesome_ didn't begin to cover it.)

"Out with it," he orders flatly. "Worst I can do is say no."

Which he probably wouldn't even if he wanted to because the kid is dangerous that way and her puppy eyes border on mind control. Shamal just hopes she doesn't know about that.

"Well... it's about that magical seminar." Harry fidgets. "I wanted to ask you if you could come with me?"

"What," he asks blankly.

"It's just..." she huffs frustratedly. "There's gonna be all those other kids there, right? And they can bring parents the first day who can then ask questions to teachers and stuff. I was just thinking that it'd be nice if I didn't have to go alone, or be the only one who doesn't bring anybody. I stand out enough as it is, and normally I don't have a problem with that, but this is _different_. _School_ is different." She looks away. "I don't really have good memories of school."

Oh.

Well.

Shamal certainly hadn't expected this.

"You... want _me_ to pretend to be your father?" he asks blankly, because _what_.

She shrugs. "Yes? I know it's stupid." She hugs herself, looking a little lost. "But you're kinda the only decent adult I know and trust. I mean, I do know some good folks, like Mr. Nougat, Mr. Gamma and Aunt Aria," and here Shamal has to refrain from scoffing, "But I don't really _know_ them. I'm not making sense, am I?"

"Surprising as it is, you _are_ making sense," Shamal mutters, and wishes she didn't. And really doesn't want to consider the implications of what she's saying, but, "Harry, do you see me as a father figure?"

 _Please say no._ Please _say no_.

Harry blinks. "Heck no. I see you as a Shamal-figure."

"And what is _that_ supposed to mean, brat," he asks flatly.

"Well," she shrugs. "You're you."

Like that's an answer. Goddammit. This utter _brat. Why_ can't she have a normal brain.

"Sure, whatever," Shamal sighs. And it does not warm his heart, seeing how she _brightens_ up at his answer, a beaming smile full of adoration aimed at him. Shamal-figure, what the hell. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, actually, we need to figure out my disguise, but that's for later. Right now… I've been having issues with my eyesight? 'Cause I've been getting headaches, and I squint a lot, but nothing is blurry. I think I'm subconsciously using illusions to somehow correct it, but it's..." her hands flop around. "Not perfect? And I don't know how to turn it off, I tried and got really nauseous and woozy, so... yeah. I figured I'd ask you?"

Ah. Something he can _deal_ with.

"And another thing, I wanna know more about healing," Harry continues, determination in her eyes. "Like, Mammon says that illusionists make bodies keep going, and Cloud Flames can propagate cell growth, and Sun Flames... I need to know more about that." She grins suddenly. "I'm the leader of our group, you know? I've gotta be responsible and stuff. Take care of my folks."

"How long are you staying?" Shamal asks wryly.

"Three days?" Harry frowns. "Colonello's kidnapped Hayato to boot camp, that'll take him a bit to escape from. And I do need to fit in some time with the rest of Team UMA, I'm really not sure about leaving Mukuro unsupervised for too long, he might destroy the world while I'm not looking. And the magic seminar starts _next week_ already, and it'll go on for _four weeks_ , leaving him alone for that long, _oh god._ " Her voice trails off in horror. "I better talk to Skull-sensei and Oodako about that..."

Nope. Shamal is _not_ going to ask.

(Mukuro. A _boy_. Perhaps Shamal should drop by the circus sometime.)


	23. 109 - 112

**109 - Harry goes to school: The introduction of Hermione Granger**

Hermione Granger is, above all, a rational human being. A fact that had been quite challenged by the odd happenings around her. The only explanation for that was that she had supernatural abilities. Of course, her parents did not believe her, even when she _showed_ them. _No, that vase fell on its own. Oh Hermione-dear, what a lovely trick. You are such a precious child._

Oddly enough, when Professor McGonagall showed up on her doorstep, her mom and dad believed it instantly. But then, the two are rather bad at respecting Hermione's ideas. The professor though, she _had_ listened, had taken her seriously, had answered questions - oh, that was so wonderful, and Hermione had been _so hopeful_. A world where she'd finally be respected! Where she could have friends, where she'd be _someone_.

Hermione loves her parents, she does. They're just so - she doesn't know the right word. They mean well, but _too_ well. Hermione once _had_ friends in school. However, her parents insisted on inviting them, interrogating them, demanding to meet their parents. When that was over, they'd intrude on playtime _every ten minutes_ , asking if they'd like cake, or cookies, or anything. And soon, her friends wouldn't come over, wouldn't invite her anymore, barely talk to her... books became her companions instead. She adores learning and studying, and in the absence of others to do fun things with, Hermione took to do those.

Perhaps, if she proved herself, her intelligence, her parents would let her free a bit more. However, it had the opposite effect - her parents were so enamoured with the idea of Hermione being so academically gifted, their little prodigy. They hired tutors, took her to competitions, showed her off at dinner parties. Hermione didn't understand at first, had been so _happy_ at how admired she was.

But she was still lonely and still not allowed to do much on her own at all.

Hogwarts was supposed to be her escape. Her chance to have a life of her own. She'd tried to show herself as strong and smart, someone no one would attempt to - whatever her parents were doing. She wanted to be her own person and other people to know this.

It didn't work out. In retrospect, she can see that she maybe overdid it. Added to that the selfish nature of other children, the absence of compatible personalities...

Maybe she'd have worked it out though. Maybe she would have found someone who _could_ stand beside her. Someone _she_ could stand beside. A friendship, like in her adventure novels.

The troll ruined that. She was in the bathroom at the time, crying not because of Ronald Weasley's cruel words but because of the truth in them. _No one could stand her, she was alone, all alone_ -

And then, the horrible stench, and her first thought had been of broken toilets, but it didn't quite fit, and then came the shuffling and rustling of what she later realised was skin and leather, the grunt, the noise of something large moving. And she, stupidly, had looked what it was. And screamed.

Hermione still isn't quite sure how exactly she survived. The memories are hazy, disconnected, filled with panic and _I don't want to die before I've ever really lived_ and there was fire and flames, she remembers, before the troll's club impacted her and smashed her through several walls. She _should_ have died, but she didn't. And nothing she'd ever read about magic provided any explanation about magical fire doing - whatever that was. As if things were decaying around her…

Though Hermione didn't exactly have time to read up on it. She'd been delivered to a magical hospital, had suffered what she's fairly certain was a nervous breakdown upon waking up, her parents had been called - and that was the end of her magical education. She was just _so glad_ to see her parents, so protective, hadn't they _always_ watched out for her? And they'd suggested she move back home, Hogwarts obviously isn't safe, they can find another school for her...

Her return to her childhood home felt like a defeat. She felt like a failure. Back in a cage.

Cue forward a few months and her father's great-aunt in Italy died and left him a house there. A fresh start, her parents had decided, would do Hermione good, she'd been so withdrawn. Sun and warmth, a beautiful country - that was just what their little girl needed. Not that they asked her, but Hermione's used to that. And really, what would change? She could be lonely in Britain or in Italy, it would make barely any difference except that she'd be in a country filled with interesting architecture, art, and history; plus there were the advantages of good food and lovely weather.

Not much changed after the move, as she had expected. The year passed by, now with her being homeschooled. Summer came, and with it the seminar - the one Professor McGonagall had told her about so long ago. About controlling her accidental magic.

Four weeks without her every move being controlled? Making contacts at a new school, possibly finding a way to join it?

Sounded like heaven to her.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **110 - Harry goes to school: The introduction of Daphne Greengrass**

Daphne Greengrass is perfection personalised. Lovely looks, beautiful golden hair and blue eyes, not too tall and not too short, fashion sense _on point_. Intelligent, peerless etiquette - she is everything a pureblood lady is supposed to be. The hope of her family, because all of it? Will result in a rich husband and her family needs money, desperately so, though her father hasn't outright stated it. But Daphne is observant enough to tell. Ill-advised investments, living above their means, simple bad luck - the sheer desperation with which her mother clings to putting up the image of the perfect socialite on its own is telling enough.

Her entire life, Daphne's been moulded into the perfect wife. If her little sister weren't so sickly, the same would have been done for her.

There is just one variable her parents hadn't accounted for, and that is Daphne's own opinion of how things should be. Which, incidentally, does not fit with what is planned for her.

How fortunate, then, that she had met Blaise Zabini when she was nine. Rich and pureblooded, which pleases her parents. Intelligent, good-looking, charming, which also pleases them - just think of how ideal their future children would be!

Sarcastic, dead-smart, ruthless, observant - those are qualities they don't know Blaise has. The ones Daphne appreciates the most, for they are also her own. He and his mother are the only ones she feels she can be herself around. The Zabini estate is her haven, where Lady Zabini teaches her the intricacies of manipulation, the art of poison, deception, and ways to fight. She'd been taken into the muggle world, shown how to navigate it, the many wonders that could be found there - oh, if Daphne's parent's knew of this - better they don't find out.

But then, they are her parents far less than Lady Zabini. She is Daphne's real mother, and Blaise her brother.

One day, Daphne would slip free completely and be a tool no longer. The Zabinis had long since insinuated there are ways to do it, if one has the resolve. Oh, and then... Daphne would cut her hair off, would wear jeans and sweaters. Would go without makeup. Would eat what she pleased, talk how she wished, marry who she loved or not at all. Have a life that wasn't an illusion, would live for herself and herself only. Lovely, it would be.

But first came school and education. Knowledge is power. Daphne will need every weapon she can get.

Hogwarts was a revelation. Not in terms of knowledge - many things the classes taught, she'd already known. But when it came to _people_ , oh, how much she had learned! There were her fellow Slytherins - only few worthy of being called this. Malfoy, so full of bluster and fake power, and his two troll-like companions. Nott, the mousy follower, agreeing with whoever spoke the loudest. Parkinson, loud and obnoxious, Bulstrode whom Daphne can't quite figure out but certainly dislikes. The older years, reflection of the youngers, only with more experience behind them. And those like Blaise and her, staying in the shadows, content to observe and collect small favours and debts, make contacts.

Daphne found she heavily dislikes the way Slytherins work. She's no follower, doesn't wish to be a manipulator, certainly no leader - where, then, does she fit?

With Gryffindor, so brash, loud, judgmental and thoughtless? No, definitely not.

With Hufflepuff, nice and sweet and welcoming? Please. She would be like a dragon among snakes.

Then perhaps Ravenclaw? Oh, no. Spending all her time studying and researching, no thanks.

Her conclusion is that she wasn't made for this place. Her future lies far from it. For from Magical Britain, really, because in the end, isn't it just a larger reflection of Hogwarts?

Daphne Greengrass is perfection. But she's also a dreamer, and that makes all the difference.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **111 - Harry goes to school: The introduction of Blaise Zabini**

Blaise looks around the entrance hall. He and his mother arrived fairly early at the Scuola di Magia, Italy's equivalent to Hogwarts.

It's a Zabini Family tradition to send their magical children to the Seminar of Magical Control. Seeing as it's open to all magical children, it doesn't matter that Blaise is already a Hogwarts student.

The Scuola is vastly different from Hogwarts, Blaise notes interestedly. Much smaller, for one. Located in a valley between mountains, surrounded by lovely meadows, there is no danger to find anywhere. This school is situated in a castle, but where Hogwarts is imposing and radiates historical importance, the Scuola is inviting and beautiful, with fragile-looking spires and delicate arches. Made from pure white stone, the smooth walls are polished and clean, lush flowerbeds lining the walkways. The interior is luxurious, polished marble floors, seats padded with velvet, gorgeous portraits and other pieces of art showcased everywhere.

There is a magical plant called _trappola magnifica_ , said to be the most beautiful flower in the world. Its scent compels people to touch it, it fools them into thinking that they are looking at the most beautiful thing in the world. A siren among plants, so to say. And just like a siren, it leads to the demise of the unfortunate victim, for it is a carnivorous plant, and once a living being touches it, it is instantly poisoned and soon to be devoured alive.

This school reminds Blaise of that plant. _Come here, come in, stay a little, I will take care of you forever_.

His mother is like that, too. But Flare Zabini loves her son fiercely and would never be a danger to him.

People have begun to trickle in. Blaise studies them, makes a game out of guessing their backgrounds. Most are muggleborn, the ones that do not wish to learn magic and are required by law to learn to control the accidental magic. They are easy to identify by clothing and behaviour. All of them sport the same look of awe, though with most it is coupled with fear - people choose to forgo the study of magic for a reason, after all, and in most cases that reason is religion. Blaise spots a number of people crossing themselves.

Then there are the students that do in fact go to a magical school and are just curious or studious enough to want to dedicate holiday time to visiting school. Blaise spots a few Ravenclaws from Hogwarts, even. None from his year, though.

And then there are the Mafia kids who have made the choice between magic and Mafia already and are only here because of the law. Blaise himself has not made the choice yet, will not do so until after graduation. He's here for networking purposes and Zabini Family business.

The main Family business being the recruitment of talented witches, wizards, and the occasional squib, into the Mafia world. To supply them with new identities and the knowledge they need to survive. And then, years later, if the Zabini Famiglia needs information or a favour... people tend to remember their saviours.

It's quite the lucrative business, and Blaise enjoys working in it. He's already an operative, like every young Zabini who hasn't had to make the choice yet. Daphne Greengrass is a promising prospect already, sick and tired of being a marriage pawn for her family, always forced to act the proper lady. She'd make an excellent hitwoman or assassin one day, Blaise is sure.

The Zabini Intuition is a much better kept secret than the Vongola Hyper Intuition, but equally as useful - while the Vongola Intuition is combat oriented, the Zabini one is geared towards the _potential_ of people. A Zabini with the ability will _know_ if someone is worth their time and effort. Some Zabini are even Flame sensitive, though that ability is prized and rare. Blaise certainly doesn't have it, neither does his mother.

His mother, who is a _legend_ in the Family. For she had managed to convince Pureblood _Lords_ , the cream of the crop of the magical world, the _British_ magical world, to join the Mafia. Men so difficult to recruit that nobody would even _consider_ attempting it, she had persuaded. And not only that, she'd done it and _used_ it to build up a reputation as a Black Widow, faking the deaths of her recruitees and helping herself to their fortunes in the process. And the level of cunning it takes to do so while being a member of the magical world, without breaking Omertá... Blaise can only hope to be like her, one day.

The next person to enter the hall makes him raise his eyebrows. He'd had his eye one Hermione Granger while at Hogwarts, but she'd sadly been sorted into Gryffindor which made approaching her quite cumbersome. She had also positively _reeked_ of righteousness and morals, so he'd resolved to wait until she got so desperate to escape the loneliness her rather _forceful_ attitude had induced that she would abandon her morals.

It hadn't quite happened like that, though, one evening she'd barely survived being attacked by a troll and not been seen since, rumours had it that she'd begged her parents to take her out of school. A waste of potential, Blaise had thought at the time.

And now here she is, looking pale and frail, flanked by her unhappy-looking parents. But the wonder and wistful longing at seeing her so obviously magical surroundings - oh yes, Granger would fall for the allure, wouldn't she?

But what lucky circumstance, to find her here.

The next to enter makes him smile even more. Daphne, his partner in snark and sarcasm, looking lovely in light blue day robes, golden-blond curls arranged in an artful bun, accompanied by her mother who looks equally as perfect but not quite as lovely. Both head over and exchange polite greetings before Daphne is handed over into Zabini care - her mother is far too busy to deal with her offspring after all, a fact that plays well into Blaise's schemes, and Daphne's as well.

"Oh my," she remarks. "Is that Granger over there?"

"Intriguing, is it not?" Blaise muses. "I believe I shall talk to her."

"By all means," Daphne acquiesces, and turns toward his mother. Blaise offers Daphne a smile, tucks an errant curl behind her ear, and makes his way over toward the object of his observations.

"Miss Granger?" he asks, making sure to smile, his entire posture designed to set her at ease.

She frowns at him. He notes the pallor of her skin, the drawn features. Her light brown eyes gleam with sharp intelligence though.

"Pardon?" her father more demands than asks, shifting in front of her and missing the slight huff of annoyance his daughter gives. "And who might you be?"

"My apologies," Blaise replies smoothly. "My name is Blaise Zabini, Miss Granger went to the same school as me." He turns to the girl in question.

"I don't remember you," she says coolly.

"We never talked," he answers easily. "I meant to, you were easily the most intelligent witch in our year. But you seemed stressed already, and with my being a Slytherin, I felt I would be causing you trouble with your housemates." He pauses. "It seems I did you a disservice in not talking to you instead. I am truly sorry. " Smoothly, he bows in apology. Raising his head again, he sees both her and her father at a loss for words. He offers a slight smile. "I hope we can get along during out time here. If there's anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask. My family has history with this school."

There's hope in her eyes, but in equal measures there is distrust. If it is because of his Hogwarts House or because she'd been burned one time to many, he doesn't know. But Blaise is persistent, and he is well capable of waiting patiently - a concept that hardly any Gryffindor understands.

Granger's mother speaks up for the first time. She's a mousy thing, wearing rather old-fashioned muggle clothing. "That's very kind of you, Blaise." She smiles encouragingly at her daughter, a hand on her shoulder. It is a caring but also patronising gesture, and Granger bristles just a tiny bit. "Isn't it, honey?" The question is not directed at the daughter, though.

The father laughs. "I guess, love." He smiles at Blaise, but there's an edge to it. "Sorry, you'll have to forgive me for protecting my daughter. She's very fragile." Granger bristles again.

"I can hardly fault you for it," Blaise answers earnestly. He does mean it. Being so protective of Granger, making her feel so smothered, talking over her? It plays well into Blaise's plots. The girl is a Gryffindor. If she didn't crave freedom and adventure, she'd have been put into Ravenclaw instead.

They exchange more pleasantries but Blaise is not very interested in the parents and instead keeps a watch on Granger with one eye and his own mother and Daphne with the other. Seeing the two perk up and wave another entering person over, he sharpens his focus.

Oh my.

Isn't that Trident Shamal? As far as Blaise knows, he never wanted anything to do with the magical world again after he left it with the help of, coincidentally, Blaise's mamma. Why then, is he here? Is it because of the boy trailing behind him?

The small black-haired boy with sunglasses that sets Blaise's Zabini Intuition off like nothing else he has ever experienced? The boy on whose shoulder sits _Draco Malfoy's_ owl, wings gleaming with metal _what the hell._

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **112 - Harry goes to school: The introduction of Hadrian**

Daphne stands with Lady Zabini, observing the people around them, specifically Blaise's interaction with Hermione Granger. Casually commenting on surrounding people's choices of attire, they exchange information.

"A lovely necklace, Lady Silvani is wearing. Hardly matches her shoes, though," Lady Zabini says offhandedly.

"It must have been a gift," Daphne comments, studying the necklace in question and comparing it to the shoes. Indeed, they are well-worn and not of expensive make. Beginner's mistake. This lady will not pass for rich nobility.

The Greengrass family has made an art form out of appearing as rich as their noble name indicates. With their dwindled funds, pride is all they have left to save. As such, Daphne is well-versed at spotting little inconsistencies in people's appearances, simply because she's been taught how to avoid them.

Lady Zabini spares her a smile. "Shall we go mingle, my dear?" she asks, but then is distracted by new people entering. "Oh _my_ ," she murmurs.

Daphne studies the newcomers. A man in a muggle doctor's attire, hair askew, hands in his pockets. Doesn't quite fit in with the individuals in the entrance hall, the magical portion of which has dressed up to the nines, as they are wont to do. The muggle portion has dressed respectably as well. "Lady Zabini, what is that garment he wears called?" she asks for future reference.

"A lab coat," is the answer. "Watch him carefully, dearest, and tell me what you see."

"He doesn't fit," Daphne answers immediately.

And speaking of not fitting, the kid he brought is... Daphne isn't quite sure just what she's looking at. A boy with long black hair, tied back with an intensely pink ribbon with flowers tucked into it. He wears goggles over his eyes, the lenses of which are slightly tinted, making it hard to pinpoint his eye colour. And the clothing - confusing. A too-large shirt with colourful flower patterns on them - a hawaii shirt, she recalls, quite common wear for muggle tourists. His legs are clad in jean shorts. On his feet the boy wears flip-flops. Slung over his arm is a worn blue bag with delicate silver embroidery. Daphne can't make sense of that outfit.

Neither can she of the snowy owl with metal-tipped wings sitting on his shoulder. It looks strangely familiar.

Lady Zabini raises an arm and waves the newcomers over. The man doesn't look particularly enthusiastic, the boy however pokes him in the stomach until he moves.

"As I live and breathe," Lady Zabini croons. "Shamal, it has been _such_ a long time."

"Flare Zabini," the man answers. "How... nice."

The boy gives him a befuddled look through his goggles. They rather look like Quidditch ones except the leather strips are striped in black and white. It makes it even harder to focus on his eyes.

Shamal notices his stare. "What, brat?" he asks.

"Why aren't you hitting on her?" the boy asks innocently. Daphne nearly chokes on her spit. "You hit on anyone pretty and female! And she's _really_ pretty."

Lady Zabini laughs. "Oh my, raising a charmer, aren't you, Shamal?"

The boy looks even more confused. "Well, you _are_ really pretty. I'm just saying it like it is." The lady gives him a pat on the cheek.

"Your name, little one?" she asks, eyes gleaming with interest, which means there's something special about the guy.

"I'm Harry." The boy blinks. "Short for Hadrian. Who're you?"

"That's Lady Flare Zabini," Shamal cuts in. To the lady in question, "So your brat's here, too? Or is it that one?" He offers a smile to Daphne. "My, _she's_ gonna be a looker-"

"I will thank you not to finish that statement," Lady Zabini interrupts, smiling dangerously. "Daphne is rather dear to me, you see."

The boy named Hadrian gives Daphne a wave and a grin. "Hi, I'm Harry," he greets. "And this is Hedwig, Goddess of the Sky and Queen among Owls."

Daphne curtseys, as she's been taught. "Daphne Greengrass, a pleasure to meet you," she says with the perfect greeting voice. The boy might be weird, but that is no cause for rudeness after all, and that interest Lady Zabini seems to have in him has to come from _something_.

" _This_ would be my son, Blaise," Lady Zabini gestures to Blaise who's coming over just now, Hermione Granger following behind, her parents right after.

Blaise's look is on Hadrian. "Blaise Zabini," he introduces himself lazily. "Nice to meet you. That's a remarkable owl you have there."

"I wouldn't say I _have_ her," Hadrian clarifies. "She belongs to herself." He waves to Granger and beams at her. "Hi, I'm Harry and this is Hedwig, Goddess of the Sky and Queen among Owls."

Granger's parents study her like Daphne's would a muggle - a look of hidden and dignified disapproval bordering on disgust.

"Uhm," Granger answers, looking a bit thrown off by the enthusiasm of the greeting. And the outfit in general. "Hermione Granger."

"Nice to meet you! Oh, this is Daphne, I just met her and she's super nice! Hey, do you like bikes?"

"Pardon me," Mr. Granger interrupts, and Daphne doesn't notice the cringe of his daughter. "But where are your parents?" he gives Hadrian a look that's half pitying and half condescending. "I'm sure a little boy like you shouldn't run around unsupervised."

"Oh, I got Shamal here!" The subtle digs are entirely lost on Hadrian, it seems. He beams at Mr. Granger while dragging Shamal forward by his labcoat. "He's totally awesome and the best doctor in the whole world!"

"A... doctor? What field? Psychotherapist?" Granger looks mortified as her father almost aggressively asks the question with a look at Hadrian that heavily implies he needs one. "My wife and I are rather successful dentists, ourselves. You might have heard of us. Granger and Granger?"

Shamal gives them the look they deserve while Hadrian just stands there, happily humming to himself. "Immunologist and Infectious Disease Specialist," he drawls. "Never heard of you."

"Shamal... Shamal... Mrs. Granger mutters to herself. "I've heard that name before..."

"Hold on, _the_ Shamal?" Mr. Granger suddenly asks, eyes growing wide.

"Best doctor in the world," Hadrian repeats earnestly, half-hugging the doctor and getting a hair ruffle and a gruff smile in return. A rather sharp smile is aimed at the doctors Granger who shift rather uncomfortably, only now noticing the faux-pas they committed. Which puts them a step above most snobbish people in awareness, as far as Daphne is concerned, not that it makes her like them any more.

"Hermione, let's go find a professor. I have concerns about security," Mr. Granger says, already steering wife and daughter away.

"Actually," said daughter begins but then her eyes widen. Daphne follows her gaze and raises her eyebrows.

Now what in the world could Albus Dumbledore be doing here? Lady Zabini makes a displeased noise - she is rather the opposite of fond of the Hogwarts headmaster.

The old man sweeps the room with sharp eyes. Another man is with him, Daphne suspects he's the headmaster of the Italian school, escorting Dumbledore around.

Dumbledore deflates when he doesn't find whatever he's looking for. He brightens a bit, though, when his eyes fall on Granger, who squeaks when he begins heading over. "Professor Dumbledore! I wasn't aware you'd be here today!" she says, a bit too loudly in her excitement, while her parents attempt to skewer the man with their eyes.

"Miss Granger, my dear." Dumbledore smiles a grandfatherly smile. "How wonderful to see you. Please allow me to once again express my apologies for what happened to you. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to contact me. Hogwarts will always have a place for you."

Mr. Granger puffs up. "Now, our Hermione will-"

"Oh, it's fine!" Granger interrupts, waving Dumbledore off. "I'm fully recovered, and it really wasn't your fault."

"Nonetheless, I am sorry." The old man smiles, then he turns to Daphne and Blaise. "Mr. Zabini, Miss Greengrass. It is truly a pleasure to see students seek further education on their own time."

"A family tradition," Lady Zabini cuts in. "What brings you here today, Headmaster?"

"Ah, I am looking for someone-" Dumbledore begins and is interrupted by Blaise.

"The Potter girl," he guesses. "She's still missing?"

"Alas, yes, I am sad to say. I had hoped to possibly find her here, but it is not to be." Dumbledore sighs deeply.

"Potter girl," Hadrian muses, drawing everyone's eyes to himself. "I know a potter girl! Makes really great, err, pots. _Really_ good at pottery."

Shamal gets a coughing fit. Everyone else just gives him blank stares, Daphne included.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkle. "How intriguing. What is your name, my boy?"

"Harry." Hadrian blinks up at Dumbledore innocently. "You look totally awesome. I want robes like that. And shoes. And a beard."

Dumbledore chuckles, smoothing down his pale lavender robes with golden flower embroidery. "Your shirt is also quite fetching. It reminds me of some my friend Nicholas is fond of wearing."

"It was a gift." Hadrian beams up at Dumbledore. "Any chance I can convince you to reveal your tailor's identity? Because you _really_ look awesome."

"Of course, young Harry. Madam Bespoke will thank me for the increase in business, I'm certain. Incidentally, she made my boots too." Dumbledore's eyes twinkle madly.

"Today is a wonderful day," Hadrian declares. "Wanna be friends?"

Shamal face-palms.

"One can never have too many friends," Dumbledore answers. "Alas, I must go now." A wave of his wand, and a sheet of papers falls into Hadrian's hand.

"Cool, thanks! See ya!"

Dumbledore sweeps out of the room.

"Mamma, what just happened?" Blaise asks blankly.

"Crap, I forgot to get his name," Hadrian mutters. "Ah well, I bet Hedwig can find him!"

"I give up," mutters Shamal.


	24. 113 - 115

**113 - Harry goes to school: Time for an adventure**

Considering how much she dreaded going to magic school for a month, Harry is in a pretty good mood. It may have something to do with her disguise. She's Hadrian for the foreseeable future. It's fun. Team UMA had kind of argued about her fake persona and how it should dress (and Mukuro almost gave her a new haircut, the arse) and behave - haha, she can't even figure out how to behave when she's herself, how's she going to do it when pretending to be someone else? Nu-uh. The most she can do is lay off the swearwords. Or try to, anyway.

So when everyone caught on to that, they figured they'd just change her clothing. And gender. And her hair, but Mukuro got a really aggressive hug from her for that and didn't try again.

The general sentiment was, 'no one knows what Harriet Potter is like anyway and it's not like they'd see our Harry coming because she's fucking crazy so let's just turn her into a boy and let her loose on society'. Hayato was not happy with this plan. Mukuro was, though. Kept giggling to himself. He's such a weirdo.

Had a lot of fun helping with her clothes, too. Which is cool, she actually likes her current wardrobe. Lots of Hawaii shirts courtesy of Mr. Nick, then a collection of flip flops, her nice blue bag with extended space, and the goggles. Those are actually illusions. Turns out, she's near-sighted, but illusions can correct her vision. She'd just with the help of her mosquitoes conjured up a bunch of glasses and goggles until she found something she likes.

Hayato kept shaking his head at her while she admired herself in the mirror. She couldn't help it, she just looked so colourful! Hayato ended up sighing and handing her a pink flowery ribbon for her now black hair which was super nice of him and she's going to wear it forever and ever.

So yeah. Operation Hadrian commenced this morning when Shamal came to pick her up.

Now here she is, sitting with her fake father in the hall and listening to a speech made by the headmaster. _Boooring_. She bets the cool old guy with the awesome clothes would have made it more interesting.

It blows her mind that he's apparently the one person she absolutely cannot be caught by. Like, _wow_. She'd never have noticed. Also, he's the shitty friend who took Mr. Nick's rock. Well, Harry can just keep up letter correspondence with Mr. Albus, no problem. And subtly hint at how to be a better friend.

Shamal jabs her into the side. "Pay attention," he hisses. She jabs him back.

"I am!"

"You're definitely not."

She sticks her tongue out at him, he rolls his eyes. Harry giggles. Messing with Shamal sure is fun.

"You're such a brat," Shamal grumbles.

At the front, the headmaster finishes his speech, polite applause sounds. "Thank you, thank you," the man demurs. "Now, today is for settling in, and exploring the school. Lessons will begin tomorrow. I encourage you all to socialise, after all you are going to be spending the entire month together. The Scuola di Magia's history spans over centuries blah blah blah yadda yadda," Harry tunes out again. Damn, she thought the speech was over.

Instead, she thinks about more important things. Namely, what's she going to do about Squalo? This place is magical which means phone reception is absolutely _lousy_ , and this means there will be no daily kitten for the shark. He'll be sad all month!

...maybe she can draw pictures and send them via Hedwig? Now there's a workable idea. She strokes Hedwig's plumage, eliciting a pleased coo from the owl who then begins preening through Harry's currently black hair.

"Oh man," Harry whispers to her. "Will he ever stop talking?"

The answer, surprisingly, comes from the girl to her right. "I know his type," Daphne Greengrass speaks under her breath. "Not for another three hours."

"Ugh," Harry groans. Then brightens. "Wanna get out of here and explore?"

"Harry," Shamal snaps.

"If I have to sit here one second longer, I'm going to have to come up with a way to make this entertaining," Harry threatens. "My, look at those portraits, how would they look with moustaches-"

"Fine, go!" Shamal pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Awesome! You coming, Daphne?"

The blond girl sniffs. "That would be the height of rudeness, to leave during the welcoming speech of such an important man."

"It's fine if he doesn't notice, then?" Harry asks.

"We are sitting in the middle of the room surrounded by people, _how_ can anyone _not_ notice?"

Harry grins. "Like this!" She grabs Daphne's hand, stands up, and pulls the other girl after her. A twitch of her will, and her Mist Mosquitoes assemble, forming into two clones of her and Daphne. She pulls the other girl after her, keeping them unnoticed with more illusions, and careful not to jostle anyone they walk past. Daphne makes a strangled noise.

"How is this possible?" she whisper-exclaims, looking at the Zabini boy with the pretty mother who hasn't noticed a thing.

Harry grins and shrugs. "That's a secret," she hums.

After successfully making it out of the auditorium, she and Daphne stand in a corridor. "Left or right?" Harry asks.

"Why are you asking _me_?" Daphne asks incredulously.

"Well, you don't seem like you get to go out to explore a lot," Harry points out with a look at Daphne's fine robes and her perfectly coiffed and braided hair. "So, where to?"

Daphne hesitates. Then, "Upstairs," she decides. "I'm sure the view from the towers is lovely."

Harry beams at her. "Great idea! I think the stairs are that way."

Alas, Harry is wrong and magic architecture makes no sense. Hedwig had opted to stay with Shamal and listen to the speech, so no help there. "We're walking in circles," Daphne groans. "And I thought Hogwarts was bad!"

"You go to Hogwarts?" Harry asks. "I visited once. Wasn't much fun."

Daphne answers, "All my family has been to Hogwarts. I'd have preferred Beauxbatons, French weather is much more agreeable than Scottish."

"I'll say," Harry laughs. "I really don't like the cold. My friends joke that I spend the winters hibernating. I don't, I just wrap myself in tons of blankets and drink gallons of hot chocolate on cold days. And cuddle with whoever's available."

A wistful laugh escapes Daphne. "That sounds nice."

"It is!" Harry nods. "Hey, this doesn't look like we've been here before. The trap door is new." She looks up at the ceiling.

"It's not like we can get up there," Daphne comments. "But at least we know we aren't walking in circles anymore - _what_ are you doing."

Harry drags the chair under the trap door. Not high enough, but she's good at jumping. "Going upstairs, of course."

"If we were allowed to go up there, it'd be open and there'd be a ladder!" Daphne exclaims. "It's against the rules!"

"It's a school _,"_ Harry laughs. "It's not like they're hiding skeletons here. Come on, it's an adventure!" Balancing on the back of the chair, she manages to unlock the trap door. She jumps up and expertly pulls herself through the opening. Gasps when she looks around. "Oh wow, you have _got_ to see this."

"Oh, _fine,_ " Daphne huffs, climbing on the chair herself. Harry lies flat on her stomach and reaches for her. It takes some finagling and Daphne is somewhat pale when she's finally through the trap door, but that's forgotten when she sees their surroundings. She gasps in awe. "Sweet Morgana!"

They are in an attic, but it's not a normal one. It's much larger on the inside, and the ground houses a meadow with dozens of flowers with leaves and petals made from gemstones. There's a whole _lake_ surrounded by willows with odd golden leaves. The far-away walls are painted with more flowers, and painted on the ceiling are clouds and a sun that actually shines. Daphne laughs, spreading her arms. A breeze rustles her robes. Harry smiles at the sight and kicks off her flip-flops so she can walk barefoot, taking care not to step on the pretty flowers. After a moment of hesitation, Daphne's dainty lace boots join Harry's flip-flops. She laughs as her bare feet step on the grass. "I don't normally do things like this," she admits. "But this is amazing!" She twirls around herself with surprising grace.

"I do stuff like this all the time and it never gets old," Harry laughs, dipping her feet into the lake. The temperature is perfect, and considering how hot Italian summers are... she throws herself into the water with a great splash.

"What are you doing!" Daphne shrieks.

"Taking a swim!" Harry grins back. "The water's perfect. Wanna join?"

"I can't take a bath with a _boy_!"

Harry laughs and stands up. Her shirt and shorts cling to her quite revealingly.

"Oh," Daphne says. "But I still can't jump into the water with my clothes on!"

"Why not?"

Daphne opens her mouth and closes it. "Why not indeed," she says then, a stubborn glint appearing in her sapphire blue eyes. She lets the blue outer robes drop on the grass, leaving her in a white shift and an underskirt, the latter joining the robes on the ground and revealing, surprisingly, boxershorts. Unlike Harry, she walks into the water with great dignity. "Mother would have a heart attack if she knew about this," she says with great enjoyment.

"My friends would just face-palm," Harry confides. "And someone would start a water war and it'd be epic fun."

"A water war," Daphne muses, shooting a considering look at Harry. "What does that entail?"

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **114 - Harry goes to school: Blaise's intrigue**

Blaise is having a wonderful conversation with Hermione Granger - her parents are questioning a teacher, it looks like - at the welcoming reception. People mingle, students socialise or network, it is quite enjoyable. He casts a look around for Daphne, who is in avid conversation with Hadrian. It certainly raises his eyebrows, but as long as she's enjoying herself, Blaise approves.

"Oh, and the curriculum looks very interesting, it doesn't seem to have much in common with the Hogwarts one at all," Hermione (she had offered permission to use her first name, a courtesy Blaise had returned) comments. "Shamanism and meditation must be fascinating. I'm only knowledgeable about the muggle versions. I used to scour books for information on the supernatural before my Hogwarts letter came, you see."

Definitely a Gryffindor, handing information on herself out so freely, and with that challenging glint in her eyes as she mentions muggle knowledge.

"Ah, shamanism and meditation are on the curriculum for the Divination elective at Hogwarts." Blaise wrinkles his nose. "Though from what I hear, the current Divination professor is more focused on parlour tricks and predicting students' deaths. This school will likely teach it far better. It maintains very high standards for all its teachers while Hogwarts' seem to have been slipping in recent years."

"Isn't Hogwarts the best school for magic in the world?" Hermione questions, sounding indignant.

"You cannot deny that the teaching skills of Professors Snape, Binns, and Quirrel left something to be desired," Blaise points out, and tactfully forgoes mentioning the atrocious security measures.

"You criticise Snape? But you're a Slytherin!" Hermione exclaims.

"He hardly bothers with us. We are merely a tool for him to win the House and Quidditch Cup. As long as we don't bring shame on Slytherin, he ignores us," Blaise confides. "He only gets involved with his favourites, who all happen to have rich and influential parents. The rest of us he ignores unless it is to spite students from other Houses. I daresay House rivalries wouldn't be nearly as bad without him driving a wedge between Slytherin and everyone else."

Hermione gasps. "That's horrible! Why doesn't anyone do something?"

"It's been tried. Dumbledore is determined to keep him on staff," Blaise informs her ruefully. "No one is sure why." Though many have ideas.

"I've been considering going back to Hogwarts," Hermione admits. "But now I'm no longer sure. And this school seems so nice..."

"It is, and it isn't," Blaise tells her.

"What do you mean?" she asks curiously.

"The Scuola di Magia is determined to present itself in a favourable light in order to attract students," Blaise explains. "This is because, in the recent century, the magical population of Italy has been shrinking. One could trace that back to the intermarriage practices of pureblooded wizarding families, but investigations have shown that it was actually muggleborn magicals vanishing that led to this."

"Muggleborns vanishing?" Hermione asks, sounding alarmed. "In Italy?"

"It's made out to be crime-related, but it's fairly obvious that they left of their own free will." Blaise is thoroughly enjoying her hanging off his every word. "I'm sure you are aware that muggleborn magicals tend to not be treated well."

"Well..." Hermione hedges delicately. Blaise laughs.

"No need to talk around it. Malfoy is quite vocal about his opinions, isn't he?" She laughs, too.

"It's just... you said they _vanished_. But if they went back to the muggle world, isn't that the wrong word to use?"

Sharp, isn't she? "Ah," Blaise says. "I didn't say they went back to the muggle world. I said they left of their own free will."

"But then, where would they even go?"

"That's the big question, isn't it?" Blaise muses, inwardly laughing because _he_ knows where they go - his Family is very much responsible for the exodus after all, recruiting magicals into the Mafia. "I imagine it would be quite hard to re-join the muggle world after seven years of exclusively magical education."

"So they just... vanish." Hermione sounds incredulous. "People don't just _vanish_."

Blaise shrugs. "At first no one really cared," he continues his previous explanation. "A few muggleborns less, not like that's important, is what they said. But then it wasn't just a few, it was _quite_ a lot. Imagine, no more cheap labour. No more buyers for wares. And less halfbloods being born each year because those that vanished aren't adding to the genepool, if you get my drift."

"It would lead to ...an economic crisis?" Hermione guesses, looking stunned. "But then.. all this..." She gestures around. "All those beautiful things, it's to entice people into not wanting to leave?"

"Exactly," Blaise nods. "The first measures entailed rather harsh legislature _forcing_ people into staying in the magical world, only leading to more vanishing, even halfbloods and some purebloods. Then they decided to take a more... luring kind of approach." Because the law the Vindice enforce grant every magical the freedom to choose.

Hermione looks faintly ill. "Relax," Blaise says. "No one is forcing you to do anything you don't want to. You know the truth now, and you can prepare for it. Know you will _always_ have the right to choose."

Though some choices are final.

She nods slowly. "I see... thank you for telling me all this."

"I'm happy to," he answers. "I've lost some family, so... I felt it my duty to tell you. Thank you for hearing me out, not everyone would have."

He can see the instant she softens. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm glad you told me, really! Actually, I'd love to hear more about it!"

He smiles. "I'll happily oblige," he says, and holds his hand out. "Friends, Hermione?"

She blushes and gently shakes his hand. "Yes."

The conversation continues, and inwardly Blaise pats himself on the shoulder. There had been just enough hints, and once Hermione thought his words through, she would realise... muggleborns, leaving of their own free will? They were leaving for _something_ , something they thought better than they had right then.

Hermione is a curious girl. She _will_ want to get to the bottom of the mystery, and perhaps even leave for the Mafia herself. And Blaise had just become her primary source of information. Oh, he doesn't doubt she'll want to check other avenues - but come on. Who else is there, besides Blaise?

He casts a look around, merely to take stock of his surroundings. A good Zabini is always attentive, after all. His eyes pass over familiar and unfamiliar faces, his mamma talking to a vastly uncomfortable looking Shamal, behind them Hadrian and Daphne laughing together, to the minor Family boss to the right and-

His gaze snaps back to Daphne who somehow looks _very_ different from just moments ago.

 _What_.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **115 - Harry goes to school: Daphne's revelation**

Daphne's blond curls are sopping wet and dripping down her back. Her clothes under her outer robes are still a bit damp, Hadrian-Call-Me-Harry had done _something_ to dry them but it hadn't taken all the water out. Her lace boots got drenched during the water battle so Harry had given her her flip-flops while she herself went barefoot to the welcoming reception. Daphne's entire make-up got washed off, revealing the smattering of freckles she normally has to cover up because they look ignoble.

To sum it up, Daphne looks a mess, and she's never felt happier. There's something so very natural about laughing with Harry, who looks so outlandish with the goggles and the now drenched Hawaii shirt and shorts, not to mention the wet mop of hair.

Water wars are _awesome_. Daphne isn't quite sure who won, in the end they were both laughing too hard to do much of anything. Is that what freedom feels like?

For the first time, she'd felt like she _belonged_. Not even with Blaise who might as well be her brother had she ever felt so care-free. Because Blaise is wonderful but he's also a manipulative prat and Slytherin through and through. Harry just - Harry seems so warm. So in the moment and just so _happy_ to be exactly where she is.

Not exactly what Daphne had expected the Girl-Who-Lived to be, and _definitely_ not how she imagined an encounter to happen. And yes, it hadn't taken Daphne too long to figure out. It just made her laugh harder. Just thinking about Britain's missing heroine right under Dumbledore's nose and exchanging fashion contacts with him is enough to crack her up.

Perhaps there is some Slytherin in Daphne, she's enjoying this far too much to even consider ratting Harry out for the good of the Wizarding World. Not to mention she just wants _more_ of this feeling of freedom and recklessness.

Harry's owl lands on Harry's head, cooing a greeting as they switch with Harry's illusion-clones. "Hey Hedwig!" Harry greets cheerfully. "Had fun?"

The owl hoots and primly begins to clean her metal-tipped wings, and Daphne would so love to know how she came by them. Now that she's looking closer, the owl looks strangely familiar, and the name Hedwig rings a bell... wasn't a Goddess Hedwig mentioned in that message on the ceiling of the Great Hall? Hadn't Draco Malfoy's owl vanished? Was that done by _Harry_?

Harry had said she'd visited Hogwarts once...

"Do I want to know why you are sopping wet, brat?" Shamal, the man that had accompanied Harry, asks as he approaches.

"We went exploring!" Harry grins. "It was awesome!"

"You look like you fell into a lake."

"Jumped in actually," Harry admits easily, completely unrepentant.

Shamal face-palms. "There isn't even a lake anywhere _near_ here."

"Sure is!"

Shamal sighs. "You'll be the death of me."

"Nah," Harry says. "Hayato says you'll die by some angry father's shotgun, whatever that means."

"Cheeky brats," Shamal mutters gruffly. "I gotta go. Just... at least _try_ not to be a complete moron, got it?"

"Sure thing!" Harry beams at Shamal and then glomps him. The man sighs long-sufferingly and ruffles her hair, grimacing and wiping his hand off after because it's still a wet mess. "I'll write you and stuff!"

"You do that." The man leaves. Harry sighs as she sees him leaving, looking sad for a moment, but it's gone quickly.

"You love him, don't you?" Daphne asks, her own words taking by surprise. "Even though you aren't related?"

Harry smiles fondly. "He's my Shamal-figure," she answers, which makes no sense at all, but Daphne finds herself wishing she could smile about someone like that.

"Well, you two look like you had fun," Blaise muses as he joins them with Granger in tow, raising an eyebrow at Daphne's appearance. She stares him down.

"We did," she answers proudly.

"Suits you," Blaise says thoughtfully. "You wear happiness well, Daphne."

She beams at him. Ah, but this is why she loves him, no? Because he sees her. Even if he's a manipulative git with an agenda.

Blaise turns his look on Harry, who's chattering to her owl without a care in the world. "Intriguing," he murmurs so quietly, Daphne has to read it from his lips. She resists the urge to laugh.

 _Intriguing_ doesn't even begin to cover it.

* * *

 **A/N: Ohohoh, so many shenanigans in the near future... next chapter is all planned out so should be up relatively quickly, however I'm kinda in study-stress... so yeah, no promises on update speed. But I do my best!  
**


	25. 116 - 120

**116 - Harry goes to school: Daphne's morning**

Daphne wakes up the next day just _feeling_ that today would be a good day. Optimism isn't something she normally indulges in, but she's been in high spirits since yesterday. For one, she's far away from her parents, and for another, Harry.

Crawling out of bed, she bounces lightly on her toes. The Italian weather agrees with her quite nicely, far more than the British one (or Merlin forbid, the Scottish.) She rather enjoys spending the summer here rather than in the drafty Greengrass Mansion, even if she has to share her room with another girl. Who isn't Harry because Harry is pretending to be a boy and ended up rooming with Blaise. _Scandalous_ , Daphne thinks gleefully.

"Is it already time to wake up?" her roommate mumbles from under the linen covers of her bed. Not much is visible of Hermione Granger other than her, ah, _impressive_ hair. It kind of bugs Daphne - she's been raised to always take care of her looks, and it'd take just two spells and maybe a change in hair lotion to tame that mess on Granger's head, and it's such a nice colour, too. Ah well, maybe later? It's only the first day, after all.

"Oh, don't mind me," she answers cordially. "I am an early riser. And Blaise and I like to meet up in the mornings for training."

Granger is awake instantly. Her bedhead is enormous and looks strangely alive. Her pillow has left lines on her face. Daphne only wishes she could allow herself such imperfections. "Training? Are you practicing spells?" Granger asks eagerly.

"Among other things," Daphne replies easily, pulling on training clothes while Granger is distracted looking for a hairbrush. She throws on lovely dove grey day robes to cover them. "Would you like to join us?"

Granger looks at Daphne suspiciously, probably suspecting Slytherin schemes (rightly so, Daphne is inviting her as a favour to Blaise), but nods in the end. "Thank you, Greengrass."

"You're welcome. I recommend wearing clothes easy to move in."

With that, Daphne slips into the bathroom for her morning ablutions.

Soon after, the two of them walk to the room Daphne and Blaise had agreed to meet in. They had picked it out during the tour they were given at the welcome reception. Granger is still suspicious and doesn't talk much, so Daphne keeps up a steady stream of idle small talk. "Here we are," she finally declares, and raises a hand to knock on the door before entering. The scene inside has her jaw dropping before she remembers her education and abruptly closes her mouth. Granger has no such compunctions and squeaks in shock.

Blaise turns to them. His eyelid is twitching, and he looks to have aged ten years since Daphne saw him last. Harry, sitting on the floor in a shirt with pineapple print and obnoxiously green shorts, yet another pair of flip-flops on her feet, looks rather rejuvenated on the other hand.

She's also playing with-

Daphne searches for her voice. "What is _that_?" she forces after finding it.

"A demon summoned from the outer abyss, here to feast on the souls of the innocent," Blaise grinds out, at the same time as Harry says,

"Hi Daphne! It's a kitten!"

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **117 - Harry goes to school: Blaise's morning**

One hour previously

Blaise wakes up with the feeling that today will be a bad day. Not one to ignore his intuition, he arms himself with his wand, spare wand, and daggers. Hadrian eyes him curiously from- " _How_ the hell did you get up there?"

"Creative elbow use," Hadrian answers from where he's lounging on the chandelier, giving a wave with his toe, a move that somehow causes a flip-flop to fall on Blaise's head.

"I see," Blaise answers, composing himself and aiming a Charming Smile™ upwards. "How long have you been awake?"

"Eh," Hadrian shrugs. "A few hours." His owl hoots. Hadrian flashes her a grin. "Four, to be precise."

"And you've been up there the whole time," Blaise states, slightly unnerved. Hadrian sets his Zabini Intuition off like nothing ever did before.

"Nah, that would've been boring. I mean, you're pretty and all, but I don't normally watch people sleep." Hadrian shakes his head fervently. "Because that's creepy, you know? So I went for a climb."

"A... climb," Blaise repeats.

"Yup, out the window and up on that platform with the statue of that guy on the horse. Talked to a few gargoyles, too."

Blaise turns to the window. The boys' bedrooms are all on the seventh floor of the East Wing. The statue Hadrian is talking about is at the top of a crystal pillar and there is no feasible way anyone could _possibly_ climb it. "I see."

Hadrian lets himself fall from the chandelier. Surprisingly, it doesn't even rustle. Clearly the boy has some experience climbing things. Blaise wonders what he works as. Seeing as he was with Shamal, there's no doubt he's in the Mafia. A hitman, perhaps? Or maybe an assassin.

His eyes fall on the owl sitting on the cupboard. "Say, your owl," he begins.

"She belongs to herself, but yeah, what about her Majesty Queen Hedwig?"

Blaise grits his teeth. "Yes. Her. I can't help but wonder how similar she looks to the owl of my classmate Draco Malfoy, which mysteriously vanished recently and was also named Hedwig."

"Huh. That's odd." Hadrian blinks. "Hey Hedwig, have you ever heard of this Malkoy person?"

"Malfoy," Blaise corrects and goes ignored.

Hedwig barks indignantly. Hadrian nods seriously and turns back to Blaise. Large eyes blink behind tinted goggles. "She says no, she doesn't associate with the lower class."

"Did she now." Blaise raises an eyebrow to convey his utter disbelief.

"Yep. This owl knows no Malfboy."

"Malfoy."

"Whatever." Hadrian shrugs before he brightens. "Oh hey, so have you got any idea what to do for fun in this place? 'Cause, you know, the castle is pretty and all but we're stuck here an entire _month_ and I'll probably go stir-crazy two days in. And how boring will the lessons be?"

"...I wouldn't want to ruin the surprises," Blaise settles on saying, his Charming Smile™ now a tad bit forced. Hadrian however doesn't seem to notice, but Blaise won't rely on that. With half the face obscured by those damn goggles, he can't exactly analyse Hadrian's facial expressions accurately.

"Oh golly gosh, good thinking!" Hadrian exclaims. "Life would be _so_ boring without surprises, don't you think?"

 _Golly gosh_. He said _golly gosh_. Thirty-two boys of varying ages are attending the seminar, and Blaise has to room with the one that uses _golly gosh_ in conversations without any irony, speaks to owls, allows said owl to _mock_ Blaise, lounges around in chandeliers while wearing flip-flops, and generally shouldn't be allowed to dress himself. And the worst thing is, Blaise has to be polite because Daphne will probably murder him if he drives off her new friend. How Blaise's almost-sister got so attached in the span of hours, he will never know.

"Hey, aren't we supposed to meet Daphne soon?" Hadrian asks.

" _We_?" Blaise asks. "Daphne invited you?"

"Yup!" Hadrian beams. "What are we doing, anyway? Are we going on an adventure?"

"Training."

"Oooh, I love training! I've got two training trips planned after this thing." Hadrian bounces up and down.

"You don't say," Blaise says, completely over this conversation by now.

"It's gonna be awesome. First I'm gonna hang with the Shark, and then my best friend and I are going to China. I've never been to China before!"

"Right. I'll just... freshen up before training," Blaise extracts himself from the conversation.

Hadrian may or may not suffer an unfortunate accident sometime soon. A month of sharing a room with the guy is going to be hell. Blaise doesn't do well with happy people. Give him snark and sarcasm any day. Or at least _intelligence_. This _kid_ is acting worse than the worst of Hufflepuffs!

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **118 - Harry goes to school: Harry's morning**

Harry strolls after Blaise, humming an off-key rendition of... calamity, she forgot the song's name. But chances are no one would recognise it anyway, what with her abysmal singing skills.

Blaise's eyelid is twitching. Harry's never seen anyone's do that before. What does it mean? Should she ask? Does he need a hug? Probably, everyone needs hugs at some point. He is, however, walking too fast to hug. Ah well, Harry's got all month.

"Whoa, nice space!" she exclaims upon arriving at the chosen training room.

"It's a room," Blaise says, not nearly as enthusiastic.

"Just getting the mood up," Harry laughs.

It is, in fact, just a normal room. With marble floor and a painted ceiling, but still just a room. Harry's seen better on jobs. But it's still nice! Best thing is, there's no furniture, making it great for training. Unless one falls, with the marble floor it's not going to feel awesome.

"So!" Harry claps her hands. "Shall we get started?"

"It would be rude to start without the girls," Blaise answers.

"Oh fudgecake! You're right!" Harry exclaims. Last night, she'd Misted herself into replacing all swearwords with innocuous ones. It is surprisingly fun, but she misses swearing. Alas, not swearing is part of her amazing disguise. "We could warm up, though. Or, I dunno, get to know each other! Do you like hugs?"

Blaise does that eyelid twitch again. "No. Not particularly."

He clearly hasn't been hugged often enough.

"So what _do_ you like to do?" Harry asks.

"Magic." Blaise pulls his wand.

"Ah. Cool! I'm not really into that, but hey, to each their own, I guess. I like hugs and bikes and kittens. My life motto is A Kitten A Day Keeps Sadness Away, Akada Kesada for short! Hey, what's wrong?"

" _Stupefy!_ "

A flash of red light flies at Harry, she backflips quickly which isn't exactly easy to do in flip-flops. "Whoa!"

" _Petrificus Totalus!_ " Blaise snaps out. " _Furnunculus! Flipendo Duo! Ebublio!_ Stand still damn it!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Harry's just jumping all over the place in an effort to evade spells, her flip-flops having flown off just moments ago. "Chill, bro!"

"Not in your life, you psychopath!"

"Rude," Harry huffs. "Do you even _know_ the medical definition of Psychopathy, you bad bean? Because I don't think you do!"

"You just tried to kill me!"

"Err, what? No! I told you my life motto, you eggplant!"

"I hate eggplant! And you said the Killing Curse!"

"When?!" Harry shrieks. "Oh screw it! Formation: Rain Spiral!" She shakes a few Rain Mosquitoes awake. Drunkenly, they fly up and spiral around Blaise who is trying to kill them with spells. His aim isn't too great though, and soon his movements grow sluggish. Quickly, Harry darts in and steals his wands. "Are you calm now?" she asks. "Are you?"

"Rain..." Blaise slurs, swaying in place. Gets more awake soon because Harry's Rain Mosquitoes can't handle their own Tranquility and fall out of the air. "Give me back my wands!"

"In a sec," Harry answers. "Now, why did you think I was going to kill you? Dude, I'm trying to make friends! We _live together_. Don't you think this would be a rather one-sided friendship if one of us was _dead_?"

"You said _Avada Kedavra_. Killing Curse, ring a bell?"

"No, I said _Akada Kesada_ , which is _completely_ different and has to do with kittens!" Harry throws up her arms. "Clean your ears out, bumblebee!"

" _Bumblebee_?"

Harry is beginning to regret agreeing to the no-cursing rule. "Anyway! I'm not going to kill anyone and if I do it won't be with my life motto! I'll prove it!" She holds one of the wands in front of her.

"Don't you _dare_ -" Blaise begins to say, but Harry cannot be stopped.

" _Akada Kesada!"_

 _Kaboom_. Crimson smoke explodes from the wand, and the smell of sulphur pervades the air. Harry coughs and waves her hand. Didn't see that coming... The smoke dissipates and leaves a dark shape on the floor. She blinks.

It blinks back.

Blaise whimpers. "Too many eyes... oh Merlin your idiot life motto summoned a demon."

"It's so..." Harry begins to say before searching for the right word. "Cute! The cutest kitten ever!" She beams and holds her hand out to the kitten. "Hi, I'm Harry!" It sniffs and she squeals.

"That is _not_ a kitten," Blaise says faintly.

"Of course it is!" Harry answers. "Akada Kesada means A Kitten A Day Keeps Sadness Away. Therefore this is a kitten!"

"Kittens don't have scales! Or bat wings! And four rows of teeth!"

" _Fchrchrchrchrrrrr._ "

"Does that sound like a cat to you?" Blaise demands. "We need to get rid of it before it eats me!"

"He's purring!" Harry whispers, enraptured. " _Adorable_. Just _look_ at him. Golly gosh, this is the best thing ever!"

"Stop saying golly gosh! You summoned a demon from the outer abyss and now it'll run rampant and feed on the souls of the innocent, this is _not_ how my school life is supposed to go, Mamma never said anything like this could happen. And lessons haven't even started yet!" Blaise babbles. His eyelid is twitching like mad.

The kitten crawls in her lap and purrs up a storm. She cratches it behind his ears. "I'm going to call you Cuddles. Hello Cuddles."

" _Fchrchrchrchrrrrr._ "

"Merlin, I am _doomed_."

"That's nice. Merlin Cuddles. His full name. Merlin Cuddles the First. Thank you for your contribution, Blaise!"

" _Fchrchrchrchrrrrr._ "

A knock sounds at the door before it opens. There's a sharp intake of breath and a squeak. "What is _that_?!" Daphne asks.

"A demon summoned from the outer abyss, here to feast on the souls of the innocent," Blaise grinds out, at the same time as Harry says,

"Hi Daphne! It's a kitten."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **118 - Harry goes to school: Hermione's morning**

 _So this is what a heart attack feels like,_ Hermione Granger muses in distant horror as she stares at Hadrian playing with the _thing_.

"...That is not a kitten," she finally says, seeing as no one else seems to have words.

"Sure is!" Hadrian answers cheerfully. "A magical kitten!"

"No, it's not," Hermione denies. "Not even close. It has reptile character."

"No, his name is Merlin, Merlin Cuddles the First. Isn't he cute?" Hadrian holds the _thing_ up for Hermione's perusal. Meanly glowing crimson eyes - too many of them oh _God -_ narrow at her. It opens its maw - _oh Merlin, four rows of teeth!_ \- and hisses.

" _Fchrchrchrchrrrrr._ "

Blaise makes a noise like a dying mouse.

"Yes," Hermione says faintly. "Cute."

Hadrian beams at her and sets Merlin Cuddles back on his lap, scratching him behind the ears. " _Fchrchrchrchrrrrr,_ " it purrs, eyes sliding shut in pleasure.

"I suppose with a bit of imagination, it does sort of look like a kitten?" Greengrass comments, carefully kneeling beside Hadrian and holding out her hand.

"For Merlin's sake Daphne, don't touch it," Blaise moans. "And don't encourage Hadrian."

"Oh please," Greengrass huffs. "Look at them! Harmless, I tell you." She reaches out and gently pats the scales. "See? Oh, he feels so warm! Who's a good kitty?"

"Merlin is!" Hadrian answers. "C'mon, Blaise, Hermione, want to hold him?"

"I'll pass," Blaise says.

"He looks comfortable with you two," Hermione adds. "I'll just... stand here." She takes a step so she's next to Blaise. "Please tell me you were joking about it being a demon," she hisses.

"It appeared in a flash of fire, smelling of sulphur, and was summoned by a spell that rhymes with the killing curse," he whispers back bleakly. "No, I wasn't joking."

"Oh, we're going to be expelled," Hermione moans.

"Unless we kill it," Blaise answers grimly.

Hermione gasps. "We can't do that! It's not hurting anyone!" She looks at the thing, now cuddled in Greengrass' arms. "And look, it is kind of, well, _ugly_ , and it looks like evil incarnate, but that's no reason to _kill_ it..."

" _Fchrchrchrchrrrrr._ "

Blaise gives Hermione an incredulous look. She wilts. "We could just... put it somewhere else? Release it into the wild? Send it back to hell? I'll look up books about demons and summoning. This school will have a library, correct?"

"I heavily doubt you'll find anything in a _student library_ , especially considering demon summonings have been illegal for _centuries_ and all books about them _burned_."

Hermione gasps, scandalised. "Wizards burned books and destroyed knowledge?!"

"Not the point, Hermione," Blaise groans.

" _Fchrchrchrchrrrrr._ "

Hermione almost shrieks because that came from directly behind her. She spins around. Hadrian is standing there, cradling the demonic beast. " _Fchrchrchrchrrrrr,_ " it growls.

"What'cha talking about?" Hadrian asks, tilting his head, large eyes behind the goggles blinking up at them.

"Well, uh," Hermione stutters. Excuse, come up with an excuse! One that doesn't end with a dead not-kitten, or a dead Hermione for that matter! "I was just wondering, uh, what you'll do with the uh, kitten. The kitten. Because you already have an owl? And cats need attention. Lots of attention."

"Which you can't give... _Merlin_ when you already have Hedwig," Blaise finishes for her, sounding so much more believable, not that Hadrian looks suspicious in the least.

"Fudgecake, you're right," he says mournfully.

"Oh, I can take him!" Greengrass speaks up and _oh no_ , that means Hermione will have that thing in their shared room. While she studies. While she eats. While she _sleeps_.

"Daphne, isn't your sister allergic? You can't keep it," Blaise comes to Hermione's rescue.

"Oh." Greengrass wilts. "I forgot."

"No worries!" Hadrian suddenly perks up, smile lighting up his face. "This actually solves a problem I've been worrying about for _ages_ , since yesterday in fact!" He holds the not-kitten in front of him. "What'cha say Merlin, I find you a loving owner who'll be super-happy to have you?"

" _Fchrchrchrchrrrrr._ "

Hermione feels sorry for whoever Hadrian is talking about.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **120 - Harry goes to school: Squalo's morning**

It is a peaceful morning in Varia Headquarters. That in itself should have given Superbi Squalo a fucking clue because that kind of shit just Does Not Happen.

So there he is, on his way to inspect some idiot new recruits when-

"AAiiiiiihhhh SOMEONE CALL AN EXORCIST!" Levi screams.

Squalo downs the rest of his coffee and marches over.

"VOI!" he announces himself. "The fuck?!" And gets a letter dumped on him by a cyborg owl he recognises as belonging to the shitty brat who had once taken a week off of sending shitty cat pictures in favour of bragging about her animal partner. This is when Squalo's brain catches up to the fact that whatever shit is going down, it is Harry's fault. And _that_ is when he sees the _thing_ that has Levi making ward-off evil signs in a far away corner. "The _FUCK_?!" Squalo repeats. Paper crinkles in his hand.

He rips open the letter, never once taking his eye off of his newest headache.

 _"_ _Voi, my dear friend Shark!"_ says the start of the letter and Squalo's headache intensifies. Maybe he shouldn't continue reading.

 _"_ _For ages now I have been worrying over not being able to send you your daily dose of happiness! And today the solution appeared in a cloud of Sulphur smoke! After all, what could possibly be better than a picture of a kitten? That's right! An actual kitten!"_

Squalo is going to kill the brat. He'll be doing the world a fucking favour! That brain-breaking level of stupid is dragging down the whole universe's collective IQ!

 _"_ _His name is Merlin Cuddles the First. He likes cuddling. Blaise (my new friend who called me a psychopath and thought I was going to kill him lmfao) thinks he's a demon from the outer abyss here to devour the souls of the innocent, but so far the only thing Merlin ate is a banana._

 _School is going great so far, and we haven't even had breakfast yet. I've made a bunch of new friends which is awesome. I'll keep you updated!_

 _Have fun with Merlin, I hope to see him alive when I come around for training. Blaise was plotting to kill him, thought I wouldn't notice, haha. Who's the psychopath now?_

 _I'm gonna go eat breakfast now, but I'll write to you soon!_

 _Hugs and cuddles,_

 _Harry_

 _P.S.: Hedwig likes bacon so if you could give her some, that would be great. :D"_

Squalo lowers the letter and looks at the _thing_. It is definitely _not_ a cat. As if it senses his look, it turns its attention from Levi to Squalo. " _Fchrchrchrchrrrrr,_ " it growls, then yawns, thus revealing four rows of razor-sharp teeth. It kind of looks like a cross between a shark and a dragon. With a lot of red eyes. _Nice_.

"Voi, Levi, tone it the fuck down!" he shouts at the Varia's shrieking Lightning Officer.

"IT'S A DEMON!"

"VOI! No fucking duh, you fucking idiot!"

Ottabio, the Cloud Officer, enters the room, goes deathly pale at the sight of the demon, and backs right out. _Nice!_ Fucker's been getting on Squalo's last nerve lately! The un-Cloudiest Cloud he's ever met, with his manipulations and avoiding confrontations. Hell, _Squalo_ is more of a Cloud than he, and he's a _Rain_.

" _Fchrchrchrchrrrrr."_

"MAKE IT GO AWAAAYYYY! KILL IT! EXORCISE IT!" Levi shrieks.

"Did someone say exorcist? My going rates are-" Mammon floats in reciting exorbitant numbers. Halts at the sight of the demon which Squalo is _so_ going to keep, and stares. Then floats closer and holds his hand out. Pats the thing, light blush on his face.

"Kill it!" Levi whimpers. "No, what're you doing, oh God!"

"This is Harietta's doing, is it not?" Mammon asks, now quite comfortably scratching the demon-cat behind the ears. "I recognise her familiar."

Yeah, there aren't that many cyborg owls around.

"Fucking brat thinks it's a damn cat!" Squalo snorts. "We're fucking keeping him!" And renaming him. The Shredder should do nicely for a fucking name. None of that cuddle-crap!

"Nooooo!" Levi wails.

"Of course," Mammon nods. "Cute and memorable mascots are known to boost sales and enhance the effectivity of advertisements. This will be quite beneficial."

"It's not cute!" Levi's cry goes ignored. Pathetic fucker.

"Did Harietta mention what he eats?" Mammon inquires.

"Souls of the innocent and bananas, apparently," Squalo snorts.

...fuck, the brat thought The Shredder was a cat and fed it _bananas_?

"Very well. Souls don't cost money," Mammon nods.

" _Fchrchrchrchrrrrr._ "

Levi whimpers. "Take it awaaayyyy!"

The Shredder hacks out what sounds like a laugh. Then he coughs up a burning furball. Yeah, _fucking_ keeping that thing.

Though how _anyone_ can think he's a cat is fucking beyond Squalo. That shitty brat probably got dropped on her stupid head as a kid.

Bel comes out of nowhere and tackles both The Shredder and Mammon in a hug. "Kitty~!"

"VOI THE SHREDDER'S NOT A FUCKING KITTEN!"

* * *

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

* * *

 **Harry's swearword dictionary:**

Bad bean = Bad bean (Entirely your fault, Ana. You good bean, you.)

Bumblebee = Bastard

Calamity = Shit

Eggplant = Idiot

Fudgecake = Fuck

Golly Gosh = Holy crap

 **Spell Lexicon:**

 _Ebublio_ : jinx that entraps the target in a very large bubble

 _Flipendo Duo:_ Enhanced Knockback-Jinx

 _Furnunculus:_ Pimple Jinx

 _Petrificus Totalus:_ Full-body bind

 _Stupefy_ : Stunning spell

 **Bonus:** _Akada Kesada:_ Demon-Shark-Dragon-Cat-Thingy Summoning Spell


	26. 121 - 123

**A/N: What is this? An author returning from the void of existence?**

* * *

 **121 - Harry goes to school: Hermione faces temptation**

Hermione is keeping it together. She really is. The demon-kitten is gone, hopefully far, _far_ away. She has no idea who this 'Shark' is that Hadrian said he would sent the thing to, but she's hoping the nickname means they live by the seaside. The Scuola di Magia is located near Bergamo, reasonably far from the sea.

Her mind is spinning with the number of facts she's learned during the past twelve hours alone. There are the things Blaise had revealed to her about the disappearances of muggleborn witches and wizards. Hermione doesn't believe for a second that he told her everything he knows, there had been a certain kind of satisfaction in his eyes, like a cat dangling cheese in front of a mouse, something Hermione does absolutely not appreciate. And then, this morning, Hadrian had been completely _clueless_ about everything but acted like this craziness was normal.

There is something peculiar about the way he and Blaise communicate, like they are in on a secret no one else knew… despite the fact that it would be safe to say that Blaise absolutely despised Hadrian and had never met him before.

It _vexes_ Hermione that she doesn't know what is going on. She's not one for overly complicated conspiracy theories, not by a long shot. A firm believer in Occam's Razor, to her the simplest explanation is the most likely one. But the way Blaise acted and spoke, she can't help but _wonder_.

The disappearances of muggleborns (like her, like her, but where did they disappear to?) happened, was still happening, all over the country, if Blaise were to be believed. _All over the country_. It's not just a local problem, it is _much_ bigger than that. Hermione hasn't quite had the time to grasp the full implications, but conspiracy theories don't seem all that unlikely anymore.

It would bear some research, definitely. As soon as she can, she is going to head to the library. Oh, she doubts she'll find anything on the disappearances themselves, the way Blaise spoke the information was kept from the general public. But she can take a look at laws passed in the recent past and look up current politics. After all, Blaise had said that some laws had been made to keep people inside the magical world, and there should definitely be records of those laws at least.

First, though, she'll have to get through the school day. Breakfast will be served in only twenty minutes and they'll be handed their schedules then. Of course, all students in her age group will essentially have the same schedule so it's not that big of a deal if she were to be late, but Hermione refuses to begin the seminar by missing important information.

Considering she had spent the morning being traumatised by a demon kitten and thus completely lost track of time, this means she has to _hurry_. So she makes haste back to her and Greengrass' shared suite, jogging ahead of the other girl. Her clothes this morning had been chosen for training, not lessons, plus Hermione had left her book bag back in the room. Mentally, she calculates the time she will need to change into something appropriate and collect her school supplies.

By the time Greengrass arrives at the suite, Hermione has worked herself into a bit of a frenzy, obsessively packing and unpacking books into her bag while yanking a brush through her _stupid_ hair and looking for the only shirt she owns that goes with her brown knee-length skirt.

Greengrass stops in the doorway, one eyebrow raised in amazement. Hermione ignores it. Oh, what shoes should she wear? Her wardrobe is still positively British, she had never been one for shopping and especially without drive to do it after being pulled from Hogwarts. _Why_ hadn't she thought about this when packing for the seminar?

She eyes her Mary Jane shoes dubiously. They go perfectly with any school uniform. But for Italian summer, in this beautiful school where everyone - not counting Hadrian - seems to look so perfectly colourful and well-put together? Hermione's wardrobe is conservative at best, the dominant colours in it being grey and brown. Perfectly appropriate for keeping within British school dress codes.

She chances a look at Greengrass in her lovely light blue robes. She seems so effortlessly beautiful with her perfect golden curls, the tasteful sandals that look like something a Greek goddess would wear. If Greengrass were older, she would indeed look like one of those ancient sculptures come to life.

Hermione does _not_ appreciate the look on Greengrass' face, though. The other girl is staring at Hermione's clothes, one delicate eyebrow raised, mouth twisted in distaste. Hermione can't help but compare it to how Greengrass looked yesterday evening, laughing without a care, hair a mess, freckles on her face, and _still_ so beautiful it hurt Hermione, plain and nerdy Hermione, to see her. It just wasn't _fair_. Greengrass woke up this morning looking like she crawled from a fashion magazine while Hermione was just... a _mess_.

"Is there something wrong with my clothes?" Hermione asks the other girl defensively, eyes narrowed. She may not be happy with her outfit, but she does not appreciate being judged. Hermione isn't beautiful, but she's not ugly either. But next to a girl like Greengrass - oh, this was why Hermione dreaded rooming with her. Even during her very short time at Hogwarts, Hermione learned more than enough about purebloods and catty girls. Even when they didn't mean ill, they still do their mind games and paid far too much mind to appearances. Hermione would know, she'd shared a dorm with Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown. She'd never been particularly self-conscious about her looks, but Parvati's and Lavenders constant well-meant advice on how to dress, what to do with her hair, like her normal looks just weren't good enough? It wore on her, and if she'd been insecure about her looks, it might have been toxic to her self-esteem.

There are a lot of things Hermione doesn't miss about Hogwarts. But so many more she actually does miss. _Magic_. Being praised for her talent. Hogwarts was a step-up from muggle school in that at least the teachers liked her for the most part, even if the students didn't, but Hermione was used to that.

"No," Greengrass answers, gracefully stepping into the room and closing the door. "There's nothing wrong with what you are wearing. You just don't look very comfortable."

Hermione bristles, but Greengrass continues on before she can actually say anything. "And to be honest, I am not very comfortable with my own clothing either. So I have a proposition."

"Excuse me?" Hermione demands.

Greengrass smirks. "Let's swap."

" _Excuse me_?" Hermione repeats.

"You heard right. See," the other girl gestures between them. "I'm quite aware of how others look at me, and you looked somewhat jealous, don't deny it. You wish to be more like me. What you don't know is that I wish to be like you just as much. I'm quite jealous myself, in fact."

"... _what?_ " Hermione forces out.

"Here is my proposition. We switch places. We're about the same size, and my robes are self-adjusting anyway. I can deal with your hair just fine, I've been learning about cosmetic spells and potions since I was seven and been using them unsupervised since I was nine. I can make you look approximately like me sufficiently enough. And I can make myself look like you as well." Greengrass eyes gleam as she speaks.

"Only Polyjuice Potion can copy a person's appearance," Hermione contradicts.

"Ah, but we don't need to exactly copy each other's appearance," Greengrass muses. "Hair and clothing will go a long way and the rest is bearing and manners, which should be easy enough for you to imitate. It's not like anyone here knows our _faces_ in detail, besides perhaps Blaise and Hadrian, who will keep quiet."

"Why would I want to be _you_? I'm fine being me!" Hermione demands.

"But are you really?" Greengrass raises an eyebrow. "Just think about it. Being able to ask _any_ question you want and not being belittled for being an ignorant muggleborn but instead praised and encouraged for being an inquisitive pureblood. Treated with respect and courtesy, teachers _vying_ to give you information. Do you not wish to know what it could be like? Just for a month?"

Hermione is at a loss for words. On the one hand, _yes yes_ _yes_. On the other, _no_.

"What's in it for you?" she asks instead.

Greengrass laughs. "Freedom. To do as I please. To wear what I want. To spend time with whom I wish. Do not worry, I will not sully your reputation while using your name, and even if we were graded on our work here, I would not taint your perfect record."

"And you can't do those things as yourself?" Hermione asks doubtfully.

"I could. I would be given grief from my parents for it, though." Greengrass shrugs. " _But,_ that's my problem to deal with. I'll trust you to not go crazy as me, and I hope you'll do the same for me. Basically," her eyes gleam. "We'll have each other's reputations as hostage."

"We'll get caught. We'll be kicked out!" Hermione protests feebly.

Greengrass scoffs. "Oh please. No one will notice, especially not with Harry unintentionally distracting everyone. No one here even _knows_ us."

"Except Blaise," Hermione points out. "Aren't you two close?"

"We are," Greengrass nods. "But he appreciates a well-executed scheme as much as any good Slytherin. And he's my best friend. He won't rat me out."

"I'm still not sure..."

"Aren't you the Gryffindor here?" Greengrass asks. "Come on. Be bold. _Dare_. Live a little."

Hermione swallows. Of all the things, Greengrass chose to say those, the ones Hermione has thought to herself so often and never heeded.

A tiny voice in the back of her mind points out that Greengrass may not be entirely sane, the other girl had pretty much adopted Hadrian's _demon kitten_ instantly and seemed to _enjoy_ all the chaos. This might be a bad idea.

It would be such a reckless and foolish thing to do.

"...what if I want to go to school here after this summer?" As unlikely as it is. Hermione's parents wouldn't allow it.

"Then you go back to being Hermione and no one will be the wiser," Greengrass shrugs. "So, are you in? Because breakfast starts in seven minutes and our disguises will take me at least five."

Hermione throws caution to the wind.

"Fine, Greengrass," she says. "I'm in."

"Oh," Greengrass purrs, smirking like the cat that got the canary. "I think we can leave the formalities behind us. Call me Daphne."

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **122 - Harry goes to school: Breakfast shenanigans**

Harry sniffles. Hedwig gives her a _look_.

"Don't judge," Harry sobs. "I only just met Merlin and now I have to give him away! This is s-so _sad_!"

The kitten in the basket meows. Harry reaches in, lifts him, and presses a kiss to his... _nose_. It's a very unique nose. Merlin Cuddles the First is such a character. "Mama is so sorry," she apologises. "I'll visit you, I promise! And the Shark's gonna take good care of you." _Or else_.

She cuddles the kitten one last time and then sets him back into the basket. Hedwig hoots, claws grabbing it, and then she's off. Harry sniffs again and has to push up the goggles to wipe away a few stray tears.

"Are you quite done?" Blaise's voice sounds from the bathroom in which he is hiding. "The thing is gone, yes?"

Harry wails, "I miss him! My heart is broken. _Broken_!"

Blaise comes out of the bathroom. "But it's gone? Oh God, you're crying."

"Yes!" She sniffs. "Can I have a hug?"

"Not even when hell freezes over," Blaise answers flatly.

"Actually, I think hell is probably already frozen," Harry muses, momentarily distracted from the tragic departure of Merlin Cuddles the First. "A cold and silent place, all grey. And no one is allowed to talk at all, and you're not allowed to see anyone so you only have yourself for company. That would be the _worst._ "

"Tragic," Blaise comments. "To be _alone_ and safe from _someone's_ colossal stupidity."

"Yeah, exactly!" Harry agrees innocently, aiming a tremulous smile at the other boy who is just being a _jerk_ now. Obviously he needs an infusion of friendship. "Golly gosh, Blaise, I feel like you really get me! We're going to be such great _friends_!"

Blaise twitches. Good sign. Harry grabs his hand. "Come on! Breakfast awaits, my _friend_! Let us brave the perils and dangers of magical school life together, from this moment henceforth! I shall not part from your side, my _friend!_ "

"Let go of me," Blaise groans, attempting to free his hand as she drags him out the door. The effort is in vain, Harry has a really strong grip. He tries to dig his heels in which admittedly is more of a problem because her flip flops don't exactly provide the best traction on the smooth marble floor, so she kicks them off and continues on bare feet. It's a good thing she brought a lot of flip flop pairs in her bag of holding, that's the second pair of shoes she's lost and she hasn't even attended her first breakfast here.

Eh. Whatever. If she runs out she can always just conjure up an illusion of new shoes, so it's no skin off her back. And there's absolutely no danger of her stepping into something hazardous to her health. One, this place is _really_ clean, like, freakishly so, Petunia levels of clean; and two, she has thief's feet. She hasn't stepped on anything she didn't mean to tread on in years.

Harry follows the scent of food to a decently sized hall. It's as luxurious as the rest of the castle, something that puts the street rat in her on edge a little. What wouldn't she give to be at the circus with Hayato right now, in their cluttered wagon with shiny rocks digging into her skin. (Though she'd sent Hedwig with a decent chunk of her collection to Verde already, as per their deal.)

"Seriously, let go of me!" Blaise insists again. A hand goes to where Harry knows he keeps his wand, but doesn't draw it. After all, that hadn't worked so well the first time. (For him at least. Harry got a kitten out of it.) And he can't resort to physical combat in the middle of the room in full view of everyone else who had arrived for breakfast early. Even if he did, Harry is pretty sure she could take him. She's a damn good fighter and since his first resort is magic, hand-to-hand is probably not his forte.

Not to mention she put a mosquito on him the moment she noticed his ties to the Mafia. He hasn't noticed that yet. He probably won't for the rest of their stay, either. So far he hasn't even figured out her gender.

"Wow!" she cheers. "Look at that buffet! It looks amazing, holy fudgecake! Free food, my _friend_ , free food!"

The tables are laden with little baskets full of soft looking bread rolls, cans of coffee and jugs of juices, milk, all sorts of stuff to put on bread, fruits... she hasn't seen such a spread for breakfast since the last time she visited the Giglio Nero place. _Golly gosh_ , and she'll have this for a whole _month_. It's just sad she can't share it with the rest of Team UMA. Maybe she can send some stuff to them? That's something to discuss with Hedwig later. And her lovely owl partner will be busy for a while bringing Merlin to Squalo and ensuring the sweet little kitten is well-cared for.

"You can really let go of me now," Blaise tries again. His eyelid is twitching oddly. He looks sort of unhappy, too. Harry better take care of him so he doesn't get sick.

"Are you feeling unwell?" she asks worriedly, testing the temperature of his forehead with her hand. He twitches even more. "Don't you worry!" Harry says. "I've got a nursing degree - well, as good as, never took an exam or anything. But I'm pretty good with medicine!" She really is, spending a year with Shamal will do that, and she got a refresher when she visited him last, plus a not-so-little infusion of information. Mist Flames are _so useful_.

"Sun secondary?" Blaise asks, looking defeated.

"Among others," Harry confirms cheerfully. "I'll get you back to health in no time, just you wait, my precious _friend_!" Blaise's eyelid twitches again.

Shamal did say that some wizards are sort of fragile due to sketchy breeding policies. Maybe Blaise is one of them? Daphne at least seems much healthier.

Harry nods to herself, mind running through what she can do to make Blaise's health a little better. Healthy food is a must! And exercise! Decision made, she begins to fill a plate for him and her. Lots of fruit and salad. Gosh, those tomatoes look amazing.

"What the hell," Blaise says when she presses his plate in his hands. "I don't like tomatoes! Or carrots! Or-"

"But it's _so_ good for you!" Harry implores, staring deeply into his eyes. "You need to eat healthy, my poor inbred _friend_!"

"The hell is your malfunction?! I'm not inbred!" he yells. Immediately quiets though when they draw looks.

"Of course not." Harry pats his head. It's a bit hard, he's really tall. "Come sit here, Blaisey-kins!"

He makes an incoherent sound of rage. Harry is going to have to monitor Blaise's blood pressure, too, it seems. He attempts to stalk away, but Harry hand is still attached to his, so he sits down with a mutinous expression on his face. "One warning," he hisses at her. "I am acquainted with many assassins. My Family is owed _many_ favours."

"Cool," Harry answers, "Me too! I'm gonna train with some after this, you know? Shark said it was fine to drop by!"

"Shark?" Blaise asks.

"Yup!" Harry nods vigorously. "He's really strong, even with only the one hand - he can even drive! Yells a lot, though, but he's actually super nice. He explained to me how kidnapping works, you know?"

"Shark?" Blaise repeats slowly. He looks a bit ashen now. Harry loads a few more tomatoes on his plate. And some salad. Green things will be good for him.

"U-huh," she confirms. "Oh, hey Daphne, Hermione!"

"Good morning, Harry," Daphne says as she sinks down beside Harry.

"Good morning," Hermione echoes, sitting opposite Blaise.

"You look very nice, both of you," Harry remarks truthfully. Shamal said one should always tell girls that they look good.

"Why, thank you," Hermione answers, tossing silky blond hair back. Daphne pats her voluminous brown one - like a brown fluffy cloud, it looks so bouncy! - down self-consciously.

"You think so?" she asks.

"You always look nice," Harry answers with a grin. "Different, though. Did you do something with your hair?"

"Okay," Blaise says slowly, eyes darting between the two girls. "Just _what_ is going on here? Daphne? Hermione?"

" _I_ am Daphne," Hermione says imperiously. "Really, Blaise, are you quite awake yet?"

Daphne gives her a thumbs-up. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean, Zabini," she says then, no less haughty.

Blaise begins slamming his head into the breakfast table.

"It's because he's inbred," Harry confides sadly.

(̅_̅_̅_̅(̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

 **123 - Harry goes to school: Lesson One**

The classroom is lovely. Light-swept, clean, books lining the wall on one side. The walls and ceiling are painted: The walls with trees, and the ceiling with the canopy of leaves and branches, the sky peeking through. Harry wishes they weren't just pictures, then she'd be able to climb them. Rooftops, trees, chandeliers, soaring motorcycles - she likes lounging in high places.

The desk are arranged so that they are sitting in groups around one table. Daphne dragged all of them over to one table before Blaise's sad attempt at escape (he's a bit sluggish because Harry's Rain Mosquito stung him when he tried to stab her with a fork earlier) could succeed. Harry's newest friend has since explained that no, Blaise is actually not inbred, which is good, though it means that Blaise just isn't very good at taking care of his health.

Hermione studies their schedule with a frown. Ugh, schedules. Harry shudders. Schedules and rules and walls and secrets. This school reeks of those. And they are not the kind of secrets she'd like to be acquainted with, thank you very much. The kind of secrets that makes the air smell sweet as decay, makes the colours seem just a little too bright, the taste of food just a little too rich, the smiles on the faces of the teachers just that bit too plastic. Makes Harry's skin crawl.

She does not like magic. She doesn't particularly want to be here. Though it is nice having made new friends.

This school feels like a trap. A subtle, creeping, sneaking one. Not the fun kind that involves tons of action and epic fighting.

"Magical Theory," Hermione-as-Daphne reads out loud from the schedule. "Can that even be generalised? We had different theory and approaches for every subject in Hogwarts. There was barely any overlap between Transfiguration and Charms, for example."

Harry perks up. That's right, she's the only one of the group who hasn't been studying at Hogwarts.

"Not really," Blaise answers, still looking groggy. "Bit of a joke, that subject. It's more 'magic does such and such' and warnings what not to do than anything. Oh, and advertisement for joining the school year-round of course. Basically, they tell you how awesome magic is and all that they're going to teach you if you join."

"Well," Daphne-as-Hermione says. "No lesson is a wasted lesson. I for one will pay good attention." She levels a judgemental look upon Blaise.

"I don't sound like that!" Hermione hisses.

"And I don't toss my hair back that often!" Daphne snaps back at her. "Merlin, how vain do you think I am?"

"Merlin?" Harry perks up. "Where?"

"Not _that_ Merlin," Blaise groans. "And thank Merlin for that."

"Oh." Harry frowns sadly. Daphne pats her head.

"Morgana, your hair is so soft," she marvels then. "What potion do you use?"

"L'Oréal, because I'm fudging worth it," Harry replies. "You wouldn't believe the trouble I went through to find that secret." The loss of Valerie-the-bike still stings.

"Do tell," Daphne prompts, eyes gleaming with mischief.

Harry doesn't get to tell the story because the teacher enters. A pretty woman with black hair and vacant brown eyes, a plastic smile on her face just like every other staff member had. "Good morning, students!" she exclaims, clapping her hands with enthusiasm. "Welcome to the Seminar! I am so happy to greet you today! I hope we become good friends over the course of your stay here! I am Professor LeClerc, and I will be teaching you Magical Theory, as well as Meditation and the elective Shamanism."

Oh yeah. They get to choose two of four elective subjects. Harry's signed up for Crafting and Shamanism. Cooking and gardening would be the other two options, but she's happy enough with her cooking skills and travels far too much to take care of plants.

"And I will also be helping to supervise the vast number of recreational activities we offer!"

"Is it just me," Daphne mutters under her breath. "Or is that woman way too happy to be natural."

"Not just you," Blaise slurs.

"Nope," Harry confirms.

"She's just enthusiastic," Hermione says unconvincingly.

"And maybe you dears will have _so much fun_ that you'll join us permanently!" Professor LeClerc smiles brightly.

"...all right," Hermione says. "That did sound slightly weird."

"But enough of that! You're here to learn!" The teacher's eyes seem to brighten. "Let us talk about magic!"

The lecture that follows is utterly boring. And gets progressively creepy.

Would anyone notice if Harry jumped out of the window? It's only the fourth floor.

Across from her, Blaise has fallen asleep. Good idea! Harry casts an illusion of herself wide awake and then crawls under the table. A moment later Daphne joins her, Hermione following behind. "How is this possible?" the girl demands. "Illusions? That's high-level magic!"

"Eh," Harry shrugs. "Anybody play poker?" She pulls out an illusory set of cards and conjures a bunch of chips.

"Hadrian!" Hermione hisses. "How did you do that?"

"I'll tell you if you beat me in poker." Haha, as if that's possible. Harry _made_ these cards, there's no way she'll lose. Which isn't particularly fair to any of her fellow players, but hey - if they don't even suspect anything then they probably wouldn't be very good at playing poker anyway.

"I've never played poker," Daphne muses. "It is a card game, yes?"

"It's _gambling_ ," Hermione scoffs scornfully. "We shouldn't be doing this. There's a lesson going on!"

"The teacher hasn't said anything of value yet and is very unlikely to do so in the future," Daphne snorts. "Come on, Granger, we covered the subject matter in our first lesson at Hogwarts, and at least then it wasn't _filtered_."

"But _he_ doesn't know anything!" Hermione argues, gesturing to Harry who is honestly touched that Hermione is so caring.

"I'll teach him," Daphne decides. "Now, what are the rules to this game?" Her eyes gleam with anticipation.

"Don't trust anyone and anything," Harry, who last played against Mukuro, answers seriosly.

"That is most certainly not a rule," Hermione mutters. "Are we playing Texas Hold'em?"

"Sure."

Ohoho, Hermione knows poker? This was going to be fun.

"What is going on here?" Blaise climbs under the table.

"We're playing poker!" Daphne relays with delight. His eyebrow twitches, like it does so often. It must be a permanent condition.

"You don't know how to play poker."

"Yet," she say smugly. "Explain away, Hermione."

Hermione makes an absolutely disgusted face. " _Gambling_ ," she repeats.

"I can explain, if you don't want to!" Harry offers happily, and receives equally pained looks from the girls and a horrified one from Blaise.

...was it something she did?


End file.
